Profile of the profiler
by Bonasena
Summary: this is my first NCIS-fic. This is just going to be a bunch of one-shot drabbles about Sloane and Gibbs but also guest appearances from the other characters. note: the chapters are in chronological order(look at the chapter name and see the episode number)
1. 1507

_Note: so this is different from what I usually write. It is my first NCIS fic. It is sort of like a profile of the profiler. I like Sloane and especially the connection between Gibbs and Sloane. So this is sort of a What is happening inside of Sloane's head in S15eE07. I was inspired by what Sloane says to dr. Grace in s16e23 about someone she likes so I went back and started to watch season 15 again and this popped in my head. Let me know what you think._

**Jack Sloane's office**

Sloane leaves her office and walks to her car. He minds keep wandering back to the conversation she just had with Gibbs. Or more like the outburst Gibbs just had at her.

"How could he think that she would go behind his back? Doesn't he trust her? last week they had that moment, or so she thought that they did, in the observation room next to the interrogation, and… tonight he doesn't trust her and thinks she would go behind his back and disrespect his trust. How could he do that to her?"

It makes her upset and hurt that he would think she would betrayal his trust that easily. She had told Gibbs that she had had lunch with Hicks attorney but, she could never betrayal her teams trust. She is a special agent. She knows better than anyone how important trust among team members are. She can't wrap her head around it. She has only worked with Leroy Jethro Gibbs for a couple of weeks, but he has managed to frustrate her but also charm her in that short time.

Last week he gave her partial credit for solving the case. He said "they" would solve the case, together…" That world 'together' had made Sloane smile all the way home that night. He had included her and recognized her attribute to solving the case. The night they had closed the case and he had come to her office while she was hanging up some paintings, he had offered to help her get the pictures to hang straight. He was difficult to understand. Sloane had quickly realized shortly after she meets him that he was going to be challenging for her to understand, but… Sloane had always liked a good challenge and a fight. She just never anticipated that any man could make her so frustrated and confused and flattered as Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He had been furious when he entered her office. She had managed to convince him to trust her, at least enough for him to open up to her about his dilemma. He had hoped that she would give him the answer to his conundrum but somehow, she had a feeling when she left the office that she had given him some sort of answer to how to handle the situation.

Sloane reached her car and gets inside. She places her purse on the passenger seat and finds her car key. As she has her car key in her hand her brain starts wandering and asking a lot of questions.

"What was it about this ex-marine Special Agent? A man of few words and jet so charming and easy to have so many feelings about."

As Sloane drove home that night, she knew she needed to have a talk with Gibbs once this case about Hicks was over and tell him to trust her, but… she also had a feeling that he did trust her. Gibbs seemed like a man who would never let anyone near his team, that he didn't trust.

**Gibbs car**

As Sloane was sitting in the passenger seat next to special Agent Gibbs and they were watching that S.O.B. Gabriel Hicks who had played them Sloane looked over at Gibbs. She could see he was just as frustrated as she were about how they had been played by this man. They knew he had killed at least 7 people and he had managed to play them and even ruin a good FBI-agents name and career. She had been played by a psychopathic serial killer and so had Gibbs. They left the batting field soon after their realization and Gibbs had, like the gentleman he is offered to drive her home or wherever she needed to go. She knew she needed to have a talk with him about trusting her, but she wasn't sure whether now was a good time. They could soon enough have that talk.

"how about a beer?" she had asked as they were driving towards her home. he had just quickly looked over at her and then back on the road to see if she was serious. She was leaning back in the seat. She had one knee bend against the glovebox. She felt so exhausted but she was to worked up about being played to actually go home and sleep. As she looked over at Gibbs to see if she had heard what she had asked he had this iconic sweet smile of his that she had already come to be quite found off.

"what do you say, cowboy? Should we grab a beer?" She asks. Sounding way more confident then she feels.

He laughs. "alright." He says and quickly makes a turn in the middle of the road.

"where are we going?" she asks surprised by his sudden turn of the car.

"I know a great place. I think you will like it," he says and quickly looks over at her with a smile. She just smiles at him and leans back comfortably in her seat.

No need for questioning whether he trusts her or not. She knows Gibbs well enough by now, to know that he wouldn't bring her to a place that he likes if he didn't."

**thanks for reading please leave a review to let me know if you liked it or what you think of the style of it(the monolog inside a characters head-style.**


	2. 1509

**Note: this is two little scenes I thought about post 1509 (ready or not) – Sloane reflecting on her day.**

**Sloanes office**

Sloane went back to her office at NCIS headquarters to finish up the paperwork on the case. It had been a long and emotional day… both good and bad emotions and she needed to finish up this case before she could sleep. As she is sitting in her office her head keeps wandering back to the events in the emergency room. She enjoyed a little too much, inflicting pain on that Son of a b… Andre Yorka and it hunts her now. She should be the good guy, not enjoying inflicting pain on others… not even on scumbags like Yorka.

Sloane is interrupted by the sudden sound on a knock on her door.

"come in," Sloane calls and the door is slowly opened and dr. Jimmy Palmer pokes his head in.

"good evening Dr. Sloane. I didn't know if you were still here so I took a chance."

"come on in Dr. Palmer," Sloane says and puts on her polite smile, to try and get the thoughts of Yorka out of her head.

Jimmy closes the door behind him and walks over and takes a seat across from agent Sloane. Sloane just waits for him to start explaining his late visit to her office. He doesn't say anything. He seems nervous.

"what can I do for you, Dr. Palmer?" Sloane asks to try and get him to explain his visit.

"Hmm…" he seems nervous. "I would just like to apologies to you, Agent Sloane. I didn't mean to be out of line today. I am truly sorry."

Sloane looks confused at him.

"what do you mean Jimmy? When do you think you were out of line to me?"

Jimmy looks just as confused as Sloane does.

"in the autopsy." Jimmy explains. "you were paying respect to your deceased friend and I was being completely disrespectful by asking to the nature of your friendship. It was out of line." Jimmy get out from his seat like he is trying to escape before she freaks out on him. Jack stands up and walks over to him.

"Jimmy no." Jimmy look confused at Jack. She doesn't sound angry. "I really appreciate what you said to me and did for me in autopsy today." Jimmy has a look on his face that is a mix of confusion and pride.

"your questions made me realize how much I cared about him and that I never actually got to tell him that. So thank you." She says and gives him a hug.

"oh hmm… you're welcome." Jimmy says a bit surprised and it takes him a second to recover from the shock before he reciprocates the hug. As they break the hug Jimmy gets a text from his wife.

"I… I should get home," he explains.

"of cause. Thank you, Jimmy, for stopping by and have a good night." Jack says with a sweet general smile. It makes Jimmy feel a lot better. He has been feeling bad all day about how he thought he was being disrespectful to her in a really emotional situation. He wasn't expecting her to actually appreciate what he had said. He has a good feeling as he leaves her office and responds to his wife. Sloane decides to call it a day and close up for the night.

**Gibbs house**

Gibbs and the team had stayed for a while at the hospital with McGee and Delilah. It was around 10 pm when Gibbs finally got down to his basement. He found an empty glass and poured a glass. It had been one heck of a day. Sloane had lost a clearly very close friend and she had overreacted doing the arrest. Not that Gibbs couldn't relate that she wanted to punch Yorka, but he had to step in and stop her… he could feel that. once he had held her back to stop her he could feel how she relaxed against him. She wanted him to stop her but she couldn't stop her self. She was too worked up. That is what teammates do. They help each other when they aren't able to help themselves. Sloane had proven quite an asset to the team since she joined, and… not that Gibbs would ever admit it, but quite a good friend to him too.

Now Gibbs is in his basement getting ready to work on his little basement project when he hears the front door opens and footsteps approaching the door at the top of the basement staircase. He recognizes the sound of the high heeled boots. It is the sound of an approaching Special Agent Sloane. Sloane hasn't been in his house since the night they first meet. It makes him smile remembering that night. He figured out the second she "flashed" her licenses that she wasn't just a random doctor from California. Thinking of the night they meet makes a smile on his face.

Sloane enters the basement but stops at the top of the stairs.

"permission to come on board?" she says with a familiar smile on her face.

"come on down," Gibbs says as he takes a sip of his drink. He finds another glass and pours her a glass too. She steps down the stairs and now gets a clear view of the boat.

"wow, I thought they were kidding when they told me you were building a boat in your basement." She says and looks impressed at his little project. He hands her the glass he poured for her.

"Thanks." She takes a sip.

"what can I do for you, special agent Sloane?" Gibbs says. it amuses Sloane when he is using her title.

"I…" she looks down at the glass. Now the smile on her face has disappeared. "I just wanted to thank you." She says and looks up to meet his eyes.

"for what?" he asks as he has absolutely no clue of what she is talking about.

"for stopping me today from beating the crab out of Andre. I was out of line and you asked me if I could control my anger and I couldn't."

"no need to apologies Jack."

She didn't expect Gibbs to be this forgiven. She had prepared this long apology speech in her head all the way from the office to his house and all he says is no need.

"Gibbs. You were right. I couldn't control my self. I was angry."

"I get ya, Jack. No need for an explanation. He murdered a friend of yours." Gibbs takes a sip of his drink before he adds in a lower voice. "I would have done the same."

Jack is surprised about hearing that. She never took Gibbs for a revenge-type of person. She has heard, most from Vance, that Gibbs does tend to go rougue from time to time, but she never expected for him to admit it to her. He just looks at her with his understanding smile and she doesn't know what to do other than smile back. All the way to his house she was expecting him to give her a hard time about lying to him and being out of control with Yorka or reprimanding her.

"Gibbs…" Sloane says and leans against the table behind her. "I didn't tell you the whole truth about how I knew Nigel."

"you don't have to Jack." He says and leans against his boat across from her. she has been looking down on the glass in her hands. Not really want to see his reaction in case all she would she was disappointment. Gibbs comes across as a highly respected former marine special agent who respects the oath he took and the badge more than anything… but over the past few weeks of working more closely with him LSoane has learned that there is one thing that Gibbs puts above anything else… the trust among his team members. That is why, not telling Gibbs the truth about how close she actually where with Nigel, has been tieing her stomach up like a nut since she left the hospital and went back to her office, to finish up the case. She knew she needed to clear the air and get it over with before she would be able to get a good night sleep.

She finally looks up from her glass and all she sees in his eyes is understanding and empathy.

"thank you, Gibbs." Jack simply says and finishes her drink.

"you enjoyed it… didn't you?" Gibbs finally asks after a few minutes of pleasant silence. Sloane looks up a bit confused about the nature of his question. "pulling that bullet out of Yorkas leg."

Sloane doesn't like to admit it, but… she can't hide the little devilish smile on her face and it makes Gibbs smile too.

"maybe a little." Sloane admits. "he got what he deserved." Gibbs silently agrees with her. Gibbs silent approval of her little devilish revenge on Yorka makes the nut of guilt that has been forming in her stomach all evening go away.

"I'll see ya tomorrow." She says and places the glass on the table and walks towards the stairs.

"Have a good night Jack." He calls after her as she walks up the stairs. She looks back at him with a smile. As she walks to the car she thinks about the events of the day. Despite losing someone that has been a close friend for years she realizes that she has gotten a new friend in Gibbs. Not as close a friend as Nigel were but definitely a really good friend.

**note: thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed. feel free to leave a comment on your thoughts.**


	3. 1510 - i don't want history to repeat

**Note: this short chapter is meant to give a little glimpse into the trust-building between Gibbs and Sloane early on. Even though they don't work directly together the have a mutual history and respect and I felt like this episode with Afghanistan was a perfect opportunity. Enjoy and please as always let me know what you think.**

It had been a stressful couple of days with Agent Sloane and Torres suddenly disappearing in Afghanistan with the senator and the senator's son nearly dying. Gibbs had been very relieved when he saw agent Sloane and Torres standing outside his door even though he had known for hours that they were safe and, on their way, back to Washington DC. The sight of them and actually getting to hug them was the relive he needed to comprehend that they were safely back.

The senator and his son had been catching up. While Sloane and Torres told Gibbs about Chet Goodman, and what had happened in the desert and the cave. There was one sentence that kept echoing in Gibbs's head. "I do not want history to repeat itself." that was what Leon Vance had told Gibbs when they had talked about why Gibbs had given up his seat on the protection details for Sloane. It had been echoing in Gibbs's head ever since. Jack and Torres, along with the senator, told Chandler about what had happened in Afghanistan. It continued to repeat in his head every time he looked over at Sloane. It had distracted him, and one-time senator Phillips had even called Gibbs out on it. Gibbs, the master of poker face, had just dismissed it, but it had not gone unnoticed by Jack either, but she knew better than to call Gibbs out in front of others. It did not go unnoticed by Jack how Gibbs kept looking at her, and it sometimes seemed like he was lost in his head instead of listening to the conversation. It wasn't unusual for Gibbs. She has learned that from working with him over the past few months. Yet tonight, he seemed unusually focused on her.

After the senator and his son leave Gibbs's house, Nick decides to head home too. Jack is about to leave when Gibbs disappears into the kitchen. He quickly comes back with two cold beers in his hand. He holds one of them out as an offer to her. She accepts with a smile. Gibbs drops down on the couch. He looks up at Jack, waiting for her to join him on the sofa. She smiles and then takes off her winter coat and leaves her jacket hanging over the back of one of the dining table chairs. She sits down on the other side of the couch and takes a swing at the cold beer. She then looks over at Gibbs, who has been observing her.

"what do you want to know?" she asks suddenly and receives a surprising look from Gibbs.

"nothing." He says casually. "I offered you a beer. It is not because I expect anything from you, Jack. It was just a beer."

Jack is looking right through his white lie.

"you want to know why I volunteered to go to a place that most people prefer to stay far away from. Especially considering that you know I have been there before."

"you had your reasons."

"do you know the reason?" Jack asks. Gibbs notice how her body language and her facial expression suddenly change to be more defensive.

"Nope." Gibbs just simply says and takes another thing off his beer. He notices how it seems like Jack is breathing out slowly like she is relieved that he doesn't know.

"Leon wasn't happy that I let you get my spot on the senator's protection details thought."

"I figured he wouldn't," Jack says while she is looking down at her hands that are wrapped about the cold beer. She seems a little embarrassed about causing Gibbs trouble with Leon because of her. "He gave you hell?" Jack asks after a few moments and then look over at Gibbs.

"Nah," Gibbs says casually and leans back against the backrest of the couch. he looks over at her with a sincere look. "Leon worries about you. I don't know your history, but he was concerned about history repeating itself."

Jack nods understandably and leans back took.

"did he tell you about the history?" Jack asks, concerned.

"no," Gibbs says, and once against, he notices how she exhales clearly relieved of his answer.

"Listen, Jack," Gibbs says and leans forward. He looks down at his hands for a moment to choose his right words. "I don't know your history with Afghanistan or with Vance. I know you served in the army, and I know better than most people that war can cause some scars that you don't want to share with others. Because they most likely won't understand what you saw or went through over there." Jack nods and looks down at her hands as he continues to speak. "I don't expect you to tell me either." Jack has a soft smile on her face when Gibbs looks over at her once he is done talking. She looks down at her hands. Avoiding eye contact with him. "I only expect one thing, though." He adds, and it makes her eyes shoot up to meet his. "that you trust me enough to have your back."

She nods with a smile.

"I do." She says with a sincere smile when her eyes meet hers.

"although you have made it very clear from the beginning that you don't work for me," he says, to lighten the mood, and he's pleased when he sees the big smile on her face, it makes them both laugh.

"you and I both know the importance of having a team that has your back," Jack adds with sincerity, and Gibbs nods. Jacks holds out her beer bottle towards Gibbs for a cheer.

"Merry Christmas, Gibbs," Jack says when the necks of the bottle's blades against each other.

"Merry Christmas, Jack," Gibbs says, looking into her soft brown eyes as they both take a swing of their beer.

**Note: Whenever I write the response "Nah" for Gibbs, I have a clip in my mind (from YouTube). It is from an episode of Chicago hope with Mark Harmon (Jack McNeil) and Lauren Holly (Jeremy) – in the scene (from Chicago hope), Jeremy asks Jack if he was even the slightest bit scared. Jack has this super cocky smile on his face when he answers, "Nah."**

**You should really check that clip out on YouTube if you love Mark Harmon (and the classic Gibbs smile) – it is short but AWESOME.**


	4. 1513 - family ties

**Note: I LOVE the family-feeling of the team, so when I watch the episode titled "family ties," this idea popped into my head. I hope you enjoy**

**This scene is set after Genevieve reunites with her parents in the bullpen. But before the ending scene at the Vance house.**

**Squadroom**

The Bells are escorted to the elevator by an officer. Once they have entered the elevator and the doors are closed, Nick gets up from where he was leaning against his desk.

"is it just me, or is it days like these with a happy ending where everything just seems to go right that makes this job so much better?" McGee asks from behind his desk. "A happy ending case where a kid gets to be with her parents instead of a criminal? It just feels good."

"happy family endings always feel good, McGee," Gibbs says a little dry behind his desk without looking up.

"ugh these family emotional cases it makes me itchy," Nick says and walks behind his desk to grab his stuff.

Bishop leans back in her chair behind her desk and stretches her body out.

"is it strange that I feel like calling my mom right now?" She asks out in the open. It sounds like she is speaking more to herself than to her fellow agents. McGee and Torres look over at her a bit weirded out while Gibbs has a small smile on his face.

"Yeah, it is," Torres says with a weirded-out look on his face.

"Actually, I feel like calling the twins right now." McGee joins in. He sounds weirded-out by his own desire to call his family in the aftermath of the case.

"dude, your kids can't talk. They are babies." Nick says matter-of-factly to McGee.

"yeah, I know that." McGee snaps back at Torres.

"It isn't about whether the twins can talk to Tim or about what Tim says to them, it is about the interaction between parent and child," Gibbs says while he is working on something on his desk. The three agents look over at Gibbs. Gibbs feel their eyes on him and look up. "what?"

"Why don't we all go out have dinner together?" Bishop suggests breaking the suddenly appeared awkward silence in the bullpen.

"yeah, I could use a big burger after all of this emotional stuff." Nick says. "the talk of kids always makes me feel weird." He says.

"you are such a family man, Nick," Bishop says sarcastically.

"oh, you don't think Luis could be a great dad?"

"you alter drug selling ego?" Bishop asks with a raised eyebrow. "no." she then adds very determinedly.

"are you in McGee?" Bishop asks while she is grabbing her backpack. He seems to be considering it for a while.

"Yeah, why not." He says with a smile. "you're in, boss?" McGee asks, and the three agents look over at Gibbs. He seems to be focused on something going on at the top of the stairs. The three agents look up to see what he is looking at. It is Agent Sloane and director Vance standing at the top of the stairs. Leon has a relieved smile on his face as he gives Jack a hug before he heads to the elevator. Soon after, Jack starts to descend the stairs to the bullpen.

"you are in boss"?" McGee asks again.

"sure," Gibbs says with his usual casual shrug and then turns off the light on his desk and gets up.

"Have a good night, guys," Sloane says as she walks by the bullpen and heads to the elevator. The team catches up with her while she is waiting for the elevator.

"you are all leaving at the same time?" she asks, surprised. "that is unusual," Jack comments with a soft chuckle and looks over at Gibbs, who is usually the one who stays late.

"We are heading to the diner," Torres explains.

"ah…" Jack says. "a family bunding thing." Jack says as they enter the elevator. Jack and Gibbs are standing in the back of the elevator. The three younger agents in front of them.

"got in the spirit for the case, ha?" she comments.

"got any plans tonight?" Gibbs asks casually when no one is responding to Jack's comment.

"I thought it was a team thing?"

"no…" Gibbs says and receives a confused look from the three younger agents and Slone. "as you said… it is a family thing. You are part of the family now, Jack." Gibbs says. Jack looks around to the three other agents to see if they accept the invitation of her from Gibbs. They are all looking at her with anticipation that tells her they approve.

"Are you coming?" Gibbs asks once the elevator opens and the three other agents, followed by Gibbs steps out, while Jack stays in the elevator. She is still not sure what to make of the comment about her being part of the family.

"hmm… sure." She finally manages to respond and manage to get out of the elevator just in time before the doors close.

"I'll text Abby, Ducky, and Jimmy to meet us at the diner," Bishop says as they all walk out the building to their cars.

"did you speak with Vance?" Gibbs asks Jack once the three other agents are in their cars.

"I think he needs to have a talk with Kayla," Jack responds with a smile.

"everything good?" Jack nods.

"yeah, they will sort it out. Kayla is a great girl. Leon just needed to find the agent within himself to investigate the case from the right perspective." Jack says, and Gibbs nods with a smile before they both get into their cars and head to the diner for a family dinner while Leon sorts things out with his own family.


	5. 1514 - boom

**note: has anyone else seen the trailer for 1703? I CAN'T WAIT... this might be the episode Jack+GIbbs shippers have been waiting for :) until Then... I hope you enjoy this :) let me know what you think :)**

**post-1514**

"JACK!" Gibbs yells into the phone. There are no responds from the other end. Gibbs is worried and while he continues to yell into the phone, he runs out of the basement to his car followed by Fornell. "Jack. Can you hear me? Jack say something. What happened?" Fornell gets into the passenger seat and they drive off to find Jack. Gibbs never stops yelling into the phone for a response from Jack. It has been a long time since Fornell last saw Gibbs react like this. one they arrive at the scene they see a car on fire. The firefighters are trying to take out the fire, but Gibbs seems to be searching the scene for something else. Gibbs sees 2 paramedics working on the ground on a person laying on the ground. Gibbs runs over there. Jack Sloane is laying on the ground on her back. she has bruises on her face and some blood. She is unconscious. Gibbs gently takes her hand. He doesn't let go as the paramedics lift her on a gurney. While Gibbs stays with Jack, McGee, Torres, and Bishops arrive at the scene. They are greeted by Fornell.

"where is Sloane?" Bishop asks. There is a worry in her voice.

"Gibbs is with her," Fornell says and looks back to where Gibbs is standing next to a still unconscious Agent Sloane. The 3 NCIS agents look over at their boss and the newest member of their team. They all know that when one of their own is attacked it is all hand son deck. Gibbs briefly looks up from Sloane and makes eye contact with McGee. McGee gets the unspoken message from his boss. "take charge, McGee." Gibbs turns back to Jack who is now slowly waking up.

"okay. divide and conquer." McGee says determined and turns to the 2 younger agents. You 2 take the car and ill talk to the first responders." McGee as the senior field agent orders and the 2 younger agents obeys the order and walks to the exploded car to start the process.

Jack is slowly starting to regain consciousness and she tries to sit up, but Gibbs firmly tells her to lay down.

"Gibbs…" Jack says when she realizes who is standing by her side. A little smile comes upon her face, knowing that he is there with her, but it also hurts her seeing how worried he looks at her. "it is alright Jack." His voice so soft and filled with concern. Gibbs is firmly holding on to her hand. He is not letting go of her until he knows she is okay. A paramedic comes over to them.

"Agent Sloane?" the paramedic says. "we need to take you to the hospital so you can be checked out."

"I'm fine," Sloane says and takes her hand away from Gibbs. She sits up and tries to get off the gurney. The young paramedic looks over at Gibbs for help on how to handle his less cooperative patient, but Gibbs is no help.

"Jack. At least let him patch you up." Gibbs says. Sloane signs in defeat. She knows it is probably for the best, but she is determined to not leave the scene of a crime.

"Agent you have some burns. Do you mind if I take a closer look at them?" the paramedic asks.

"sure, why not."

"let's get you into the ambulance so I can take a look at it."

Jack gets off the gurney and follows the paramedic into the gurney.

"I'll come back and check up on you Jack," Gibbs says before the paramedic closes the doors to the ambulance.

Gibbs meets up with his agents and Fornell to get an update of the situation.

"how is Sloane?" Ellie asks as the first when the group is united.

Gibbs looks back at the closed doors to the ambulance.

"she is conscious, and she is being checked out by the paramedic right now," Gibbs informs. He sounds so worried. He looks down at the ground to compose himself for a moment before he looks up at his agents with his usual determined look on his face.

While Gibbs is getting an update from his three agents Fornell is just observing. He has noticed how Gibbs has been reacting around this whole event. He doesn't remember ever seeing Gibbs so emotional around a wounded agent before. Gibbs normally don't get emotional. If Fornell remembers correcting that is one of Gibbs's rules.

"excuse me, Agent Gibbs?" Gibbs turns around and behind him is the young paramedic who was with Sloane. "she is done, sir. I would prefer to take her to the hospital to get checked out, but she is refusing. Could you try and convince her?"

"I like to live," Gibbs says with his usual sarcastic charm. He knows how stubborn and determined Jack is. One of the many things he admires in her. The young paramedic walks away. Gibbs turns back to Fornell who is standing right next to him. he has this questioning look on his face again.

"What?" Gibbs asks irritated. "she is stubborn as hell." Gibbs explains to explain his comment to the young paramedic.

"what is it with you and this woman?" Fornell asks as they walk towards the ambulance to go interviewing Sloane while the other 3 agents proceed with processing the crime scene.

"she is a colleague and a friend, Tobias" Gibbs explains in a really annoyed tone. It makes Fornell Laugh.

"well, she doesn't have the right hair color anyway." Fornell laughs and Gibbs can't help but crack a little smile also.

Gibbs walks into the ambulance where Sloane is sitting, followed by Fornell. She is holding a piece of cloth to her forehead where she has sustained some minor injuries. Gibs gentle places his hand on top of hers that are resting on her legs. She forces a smile on her face to tell him she is okay, but it doesn't convince Gibbs. Gibbs and Fornell take a seat across from her but they don't say anything. It seems to her like Fornell is awaiting Gibbs moves but Gibbs is just staring at her with concern. She has never seen him look at her like that before. He has the seem to look as he did when she just regained consciousness earlier. He looks so worried and hurt. He pains her to have him look at her like that. But she is determined to not let him sweet talk guilt trip her into leaving a scene of the crime. Jessica Shaeffer was her friend and she is not going to let Gibbs sidetrack her on the Gabriel Hicks case. Even though she can feel how his stare is working his way into her so she puts up her defense mechanism and says in the harshest tone she can "would you too stop looking at me like that… please? I am fine." the moment she said the words she realizes how miserably she failed in sounding convincing and she looks away from Gibbs. If he keeps looking at her like that, she knows he will get what he wants. She knows how stubborn he is which is one of the many things she admires about him.

**post-episode**

yesterday they finally managed to arrest Gabriel Hicks and put him away for good. It had made Jack sleep so well last night, knowing that he wouldn't be able to escape justice this time. Jack arrived early at her office this morning. She needed to finish up some paperwork that she didn't get to do yesterday. She didn't like to admit it, but her head had still been hurting after the explosion, so she had called it an early night. She is sitting in her office on the couch. Her legs bend against her chest as she is sitting and reading thought some papers when it knocks on her door.

"come in," she calls, and the door is opened, and she is met by the smell of fresh-made coffee. Gibbs comes in with two cups of steamy hot coffee in his hands.

"morning Gibbs." She greets with a smile. He reciprocates the smile and takes a seat across from her after he hands her on of the cups he is holding. She takes a sip. It is her favorite kind of coffee with just the right amount of sugar.

"How are you doing, Jack?" Gibbs asks with his usual sweet smile. She likes it when he uses her first name. it sounds more personal.

"I'm just finishing up some paperwork on the Hicks case," Ack says in a casual tone and lays down some papers on the table.

"I didn't say what you were doing. I said How are you doing?" Gibs clarifies in a more president tone.

She was hoping she could avoid the question but that didn't work. She looks down and signs in defeat.

"I am fine Gibbs. My head has been hurting a bit, but… I'll be fine." She says and looks up to meet his eyes. "Knowing that you got Hicks certainly helps." She adds with a smile.

"We got Hicks. We make a great team, Jack." He says and takes a sip of his coffee.

"We sure do." She concurs and a big smile breaks out on Gibbs's face.


	6. 1516 - memories of war

**Note: I love every scene in the show where Gibbs and Jack share their military history. They served in different wars, but I love how they understand what each other have been through in a way I feel like the other characters don't. this was originally two different ideas for a post-episode scene but instead, I ended up with these two scenes. Please let me know what you think of it and ENJOY. **

**Post talking with John about his daughter and opening up to John**

Gibbs is sitting at his desk in the dimmed lit up office. The only light in the entire office is coming from the small lamp on his desk. The rest of the team is down in Abby's lab, trying to trace the original source of the leaked information about the murder. Gibbs hears footsteps coming down the stairs. It is Jack. She is wearing a workout outfit. She isn't carrying either her purse or her coat. She doesn't greet him as she usually does when Jack walks by the bullpen, but she walks very determinedly to the elevator. She pretends like she didn't see him, but her very determined body language and the way Jack is looking down at the ground as Jack approaches the elevator tells him she is avoiding eye contact with anyone. He hears the elevator bell ring, and then the elevator doors open and closes.

Jack has been down in the NCIS-gym for about 30 minutes now. She is alone, and she is going hard on the punching bag. So hard that her fist is starting to hurt a bit, but Jack keeps going. She is sweating, and her heart is pounding. The best way for Jack to deal with the built-up anger is to work out in the gym. Jack knows if she talks to anyone, she might overreact. Jack doesn't want anyone at NCIS to know about her experience. The only person at NCIS who knows is Leon, and she would prefer it stays that way.

She is facing the door leading to the gym so she can see if anyone is coming. She is not in the mood for talking with anyone right now, so she will probably leave if someone else comes. It is late, so she is pretty sure no one is coming. Until she hears the elevator bell dings and the elevator doors opens. She doesn't hear any footsteps coming, which she under normal circumstances would wonder about, but tonight she prefers to be alone with her anger and emotions. She suddenly sees a dark figure standing in the doorway, leading to the small hallway where the elevator is. The shadowy figure is just standing there in the dark without moving or saying a word. Not even notifying her who it is, even though Jack has a pretty good idea of who it would be. The only person who saw her go down here.

"what do you need, Gibbs?" Jack asks as she is continuing her boxing training.

"nothing," Gibbs says and steps into the gym so Jack can actually see him. He leans against the wall right next to the door. He is just observing her.

"Why are you here, then?" she asks and finally stops boxing. She walks over to the treadmill and quickly turns up the speed to a pretty fast running speed.

"I was just wondering what is going on with you?"

"I'm fine." She says, trying to hide her irritation with his presence as she is running on the treadmill.

"you are down in the gym, beating the crab out of the punching bag for nearly 45 minutes and then continues on the treadmill. Either you really need to burn off some steam of something is wrong. What happened at John's?" Gibbs asks and walks over to Jack. He has a water bottle in his hand, and he places it in the bottle holder on the treadmill for her.

"you need to keep your fluid balances up, Jack." He says, and she looks a bit irritated at him before she grabs the bottle and takes a bit of water. She doesn't take her eyes off him. She continues to stare at him with an irritated look that tells him she would prefer to be alone right now. Gibbs goes back to his spot where he was first standing when he entered the gym. Against the wall right next to the door. He is not leaving even though he can tell that is what she would prefer, but he is not going to let her shoot him out like that. He can see something is off with her.

"I got him to open up to me about his experience." She says after a few more minutes on the treadmill where she is pushing herself to the limit.

"he told me he has a daughter who was born while he was in captivity. She doesn't know who he is. She grew up with another father."

Gibbs nods in understanding.

"so, do you think he is the killer?" Gibbs asks.

"he is a proud marine who served his country and who sends care packages to Marines overseas. Yes, he does have some anger issues as a result of living in a cage for five years, but he is not a killer. He never got any help after his escape." Jack starts to slow down the treadmill, and finally, the machine stops, and Jack steps down. She is wearing a light grey tank top that is wet from the sweat while and her skin is covered with pearls of sweat. Jack takes the bottle of water and almost empties it before leaning against the wall to calm down her rapid heartbeat. Gibbs knows he shouldn't be looking at her and thinking of how attractive she looks right now because she isn't doing good, but he is a man, and he can't hide that he finds her attractive as she looks so sporty right now. He is forcing his mind to not stare at her.

"He has no one to help him or to talk to, Gibbs," Jack says. She has so many emotions in her voice, but it isn't her usual compassion. It is something else. It seems like from the look in her eyes that she understands John on a more personal level. His story has gotten to her on a more personal level then previous cases, but Gibbs would be lying if he said that the interrogation of Whit Dexter set of some emotions that he hasn't felt in a long time. A slime scum who is framing a POW veteran for murder just for publicity and fans, made him almost feel sick to his stomach.

"he got you, Jack. The first step to healing is to open up and talk about it with someone. Today he took the first step when he opened up to you."

Jack nods, but it doesn't seem to be enough for her.

"but is it enough?" Jack asks with so much pain and emotions in her eyes.

"We are going to clear his name, and then it will be a process for him, but he has taken a step in the right direction." Jack nods, but her eyes tell Gibbs it might not be enough for her.

"Have you gotten anything to eat, Jack?" Gibbs asks after a few moments of silence.

"not really hungry, Gibbs." She says and forces a smile on her face. She pushes herself off the wall that she was leaning against.

"I'll go take a shower. I stink."

"she says and walks by him.

"can't disagree." He says with a little sideways smile and receives a playful push on the shoulder and a small smile as she walks by him to the lady's shower. That little smile on her face was all he needed for tonight to go home, knowing that she is going to be okay.

**Post episode**

It is around 9.30 pm. Gibbs has just finished up the paperwork on the case. The other three agents left a while ago. Gibbs is wondering why he hasn't seen Sloane left yet. She came back to the office after she had helped John reconnect with his estranged daughter. He knows the last couple of days has been rough on her. He doesn't know much about her story other than that she is an Army veteran with two tours to Afghanistan. The last one ended in 2002. Gibbs turns off the light at his desk and walks upstairs. The bullpen is quiet and dark. He walks to Jack's office and gently knocks on the door. There is no answer. He tries the handle. The door is unlocked, which tells him that she is still in her office. He slowly opens the door. The office is almost dark, only light up by a small light near the couch. Jack is lying on her sofa, sleeping. She is all curled up. She seems a bit cold. Gibbs looks around the office, searching for something he can put over her as a cover. He finds a blanket hanging on the armrest of a chair behind her door. Gibbs grabs the blanket, unfolds it, and gently places it over her. He then turns around and is about to leave the office when he notices the pictures on the small coffee table. There is one photo of Jack in her army-uniform, where she is standing together with three young men. They must be her army-squad she served along with. Jack and the three men are smiling in the photo while making some sort of hand sign to the camera. The case and John's story must have taken her down memory lane of her own time in the service. Gibbs picks up the photo to take a closer look at it. Jack looks excellent in combat uniform. Gibbs thinks to himself as he looks at the picture with a shy smile. Gibbs knows he shouldn't be thinking of his colleague like that, but she is unlike any other woman he has known before. Because she has served. She has a history in the military, and she seems to understand him differently. Gibbs looks over the other pictures on the table. There are a few different pictures with the same three men and Sloane. All photos appear to be from a combat zone. They are most likely from Afghanistan since that was where Sloane served.

"Gibbs?" Jack says. Her voice is raspy from the sleep, and she is blinking a few times before she gets used to the dimmed light. Gibbs quickly places the photo back on the coffee table.

"hey. Just checking in. See how you were doing. Didn't mean to wake ya, Jack" He explains to why he would be in her darkened office late in the evening while she is sleeping.

"Thanks." She says with a small smile as she sits up.

"What is this?" Gibbs asks.

"the case. Kind of took me a trip down memory lane. Seeing John meeting his daughter. Coming to terms with the sacrifice he made for serving his country." She explains, and she tocks the blanket up around her shoulder.

"yeah, this case was a rough one," Gibbs admits. Jack notices how he is looking at her photos on the table.

"That was my squad—the mighty Wingos." Gibbs smiles at the name. "We served in Afghanistan. Two tours." She explains. Gibbs sits down on the chair across from her. "where did you serve?"

"dessert storm." He explains. She nods. "different wars but a lot of similarities." Gibbs says, and Jack nods. She knows every war has some similarities in what the servicemembers experience a lot of death, pain, and destruction, and a lot of memories. Some good and some bad.

"Are you still in contact with them?" he asks.

She first looks at him, but then she quickly looks down at the photos. Gibbs regret he asks. he can see the pain in her eyes as she almost not audible says. "no." it takes a moment where she seems to be controlling her emotions before she adds. "it was a long time ago." He nods in understanding. He has no contact with his old unit anymore, either.

"John made some major sacrifices to serve his country," Jack says in an attempt to get her thoughts away from her own time in Afghanistan.

"every service member does. It is rough on any family to have a service member in the family." Gibbs says thinking about how much more time he could have spent with his two girls if he hadn't been on deployment.

"well, I wouldn't change it for anything, though," Jack says, trying to force a smile on her face.

"me neither," Gibbs says with a smile. There is a moment of silence. They are both lost in their thoughts about their own time in the military.

"Have you had dinner yet?" Gibbs finally asks, breaking the silence.

"no," Jack says as she snaps out of the thoughts of her fellow unit members.

"We could go to the diner. Get a bite to eat. If you would like it." He offers with a casual shrug. She nods with a smile.

"Sounds good." She agrees. She grabs all of her photos and places them back in the empty envelop on the table before she puts them back in her desk draw. She grabs her coat and puts on her black high heeled leather boots and then leaves her office together with Gibbs. After this day, Jack is happy that Gibbs stopped by her office, so she didn't have to go home to her apartment alone. She stayed in her office, precisely because she didn't want to be alone in her apartment tonight.

**Note: I am not a service member myself (yet – I am planning on joining the army when I finish school), so what I describe in this chapter is purely my imagination and only what I can imagine it would be like. I hope if anyone who has any actual real-life experience will like my story anyone, and it doesn't offend anyone. I am only writing for pure entertainment.**


	7. 1522 - goodbye Abby

**Note: this is mostly a story about Abby and Gibbs, but I put it in my profile the profile series also because it involves Gibbs chatting with Jack about his memories of Abby. There are a lot of references to Abby-episodes in this story – please let me know what you think of it and ENJOY.**

Jack walks down the stairs to the bullpen. It is late, and the case is wrapped up. The team has gone home for the day. Jack is heading home too. She walks by the bullpen looking down at her phone, responding to an email when she notices the light is on at Gibbs's desk, and he is sitting at his desk. The bullpen is entirely dark except for the desk light at Gibbs's desk. She puts her phone in her purse and walks over to Gibbs. He is looking at a tiny piece of paper and on the table in front of him. It is a drawing of Abby on a sketchbook. It has been nearly a week since Abby left the team, and since Clayton Reeves died. The team has been a little shaken up since then, but Gibbs has seemed to be held together pretty well for someone who just lost someone who appeared to be like a daughter to him.

"Gibbs?" she asks when he does not seem to notice her presence. He looks lost in his thoughts.

"you are not leaving?" she asks. Gibbs finally looks up at her.

"Hey, Jack." He says as she looks back down on the sketchbook.

"who made this one?" Jack asks, referring to the sketchbook.

"Kate." He answers as he sounds distant. "Kate Todd. She was a former secret service. Ziva found this sketchbook of hers after Kate's death."

"may I see?" Jack asks, and Gibbs pushes the sketchbook towards her without a word. She walks around the desk and leans against it next to Gibbs as she looks at the sketches of Abby, Tony, Ducky, and Gibbs.

"these are really great," Jack says and places the sketchbook back in the table. She then notices the tiny piece of paper that he has been holding in between his fingers.

"What is that?"

"today's new friend is tomorrow's family" Gibbs reads from the tiny piece of paper. "it is a fortune from a fortune cookie," Gibbs says with a small smile on his lips, remembering when Abby gave it to him. "Abby gave it to me on the first case we worked together."

"you held on to it ever since?" Jack asks.

Gibbs nods. "she gave it to me because she wanted it to be about me, and she was right."

"you two had a pretty special bond." Gibbs looks at the fortune and smiles.

"Yeah. Abbs…" Gibbs smiles. He looks up at Jack with a smile and then stands up and grabs his coat.

"you got any plans tonight?" he asks.

"not really."

"come one. I want to show you something."

Jack look bewildered but is also curious about what he is up to and follows him to the elevator. They step into the elevator, and Gibbs presses the ground floor level button.

"Why did you become an agent, Gibbs?" Jack asks as Gibbs parks the car in his driveway.

"I don't know." He calmly answers as they walk through the front door. He turns on the light in the living room and throws his keys on the table and takes off his jacket.

"come on, Gibbs. You can do better than that."

"All I ever wanted in life was to be a good marine, a good husband, and a good father and son." He says while he moves around the living room.

"and you did." She says. He looks over at her with a sad smile.

"I feel like I failed in at least 2 of those things."

"well… you never failed, but you lost the 2 people you loved the most, and they can never be replaced but… I think…" Gibbs suddenly gives a very tiring look. "hear me out." She pleads. "I think you joined NCIS and became an Agent to find a sense of belonging after you left the marines, and you lost your family. Today's new friend is tomorrow's family. It might have been Abby's wish for it to come true, but I think it was just as much a wish for you, and you sure as hell made it come true. I have never seen any working relationship like the one you and Abby have." it makes Gibbs smile. "we are just coworkers, Jack." Gibbs says casually and walks towards the door to the basement. Jack follows him down the stairs.

"you kiss her on the cheek, bring her caf pow every day. Uses a nickname for her. sure… You are close to all your agents, but it isn't like with Abby. The bond that the two of you share is unlike any other relationship I have ever seen."

Gibbs starts moving some boxes that are stacked against the back wall. He finally takes one out and places it on the table. Jack is just observing, but she steps closer to see the content of the box, once Gibbs opens it.

"What is this?" jack curiously asks and looks down in the box.

"it is stuff I have collected over the years related to my team," Gibbs explains. He takes out a wooden box with a button in the middle. He presses the button, and Gibbs's own voice is heard saying. "thanks, Abbs." It makes both Gibbs and Jack laugh.

"What is that?"

"Abbs made it. for when I was absent on a case." It clearly makes Gibbs smile from memory. "when she made it, I was dealing with some stuff with my dad. She asked me to give it to him. I found it in my dad's house when he passed away."

Jack enjoys the sweet smile on Gibbs's face from the memory of clearly 2 very important people in his life. A woman who was like a daughter to him and his late father. Jack presses the button and the sound of Gibbs's voice saying: "what ya got Abbs?" is coming out, and it makes Jack smile.

Jack looks into the box and finds a picture of Abby and a man who seems to be about the same age as Abby.

"who is this?" Jack asks and takes out the picture.

"that is Abby's biological brother, Kyle."

"biological?" Jack asks, confused.

"Abby found out a few years ago, while she was signing up for being a kidney donor that she was adopted. Kyle is her biological brother. It took her about a year to actually get in touch with him."

"and she introduced him to you?"

"well… more specifically…" Gibbs says while he is finding 2 glass jaws on the table and a bottle of bourbon. "she told him who she was and told him he was adopted too, and then she dragged him here for him to meet me."

Gibbs pours a glass of bourbon and hands it to Jack.

"you see what I mean? Your relationship with Abby is unlike any other."

"I guess." Gibbs just simply says and takes a sip of his liquor. "I used to take her out for dinner on her birthday every year. One year I didn't because we were busy on a framing case, and she got mad because she thought I had forgotten her birthday, so she was snappy for 2 days."

"did you?" Jack asks. Gibbs looks confused at her. "did you forget her birthday?"

Gibbs shakes her head. "Nope. I had just snug past her and placed her birthday present on her desk without her noticing."

"well, that sounds like you." Jack says with a smile. "do you take all of your colleagues out for dinner on their birthday?"

"nope. Just Abbs."

"why?" Jack asks, curious about how this tradition started.

"her parents had passed away, and she was sad that she was going to be alone on her birthday, so I offered her to take her out for dinner on her birthday. It became a tradition."

"you are a very good man, Agent Gibbs," Jack says and smiles. It just merely generates a shy smile on Gibbs's face. Jack looks into the box where there is a sniper projectile at the bottom of the box. Jack picks it up. She can see something is changing in Gibbs's eyes once he sees it. There is sadness in his eyes. He looks down on the floor.

"I promised Abby to always keep her safe." He says after a moment of silence. There is so much sadness in his voice now. "I couldn't. she got hurt, Jack." He says with so much pain in his voice. Jack places the bullet back into the box and walks over to Gibbs.

"Ari, Mikel Mawher, Spooner, Sergent King, Chip, The phantom, Alejandro Rivera and Harper Dearing. Most of those scumbags were my fault. They went after Abby because of me." Gibbs throws his glass into the wall, and it shatters. It shocks Jack.

"it wasn't your fault."

"Rivera and Ari went after Abby because of me. I didn't stop King or that freak, Chip. I could have stopped them before they hurt Abby."

Jack is just observing silently. Gibbs is standing with his back to her in the opposite end of the basement. He is clearly trying to calm himself down. Jack hasn't seen Gibbs this emotional and worked up before. Clearly, Abby was a substitute daughter to him.

"Gibbs," Jack says when she senses he has calmed down enough again. He looks back at her over his shoulder. He notices she is standing with a pair of handcuffs in her hand. The cuffs are taped to the back of a picture of Gibbs's face. It makes Gibbs smile when he turns around.

"are you going to explain why a photo of you are taped to a pair of handcuffs? Or why it says flight risk on the back of the photo?"

"I retired once from NCIS." Jack looks shocked at him. "I went down to Mexico for a couple of months to stay with an old friend, Mike Franks. Abby missed me a lot, so she put my picture on all of her monitors. When I came back to help Ziva out, Abby handcuffed herself to me. She told me she wasn't going to let me leave. She told me I was a flight risk."

It makes Jack smile. "she loves you. she can't go without you."

"I think she can. Abby is a very strong person. She is incredibly smart. She can handle herself. She was once stalked by an ex-boyfriend. She handled her stalker just perfectly fine." Gibbs says and chuckles by the memory of Abby in her monkey suit with black-framed glasses standing in the back of a van while shocking her attacker with a stun gun.

"I didn't mean to say she can't handle herself, but everyone needs support from a parental figure everyone's in a while." Gibbs nods and walks back to the box on the table, and Jack follows. He finds a crumbled picture at the bottom of the box and picks it up. It is an old picture of Tony, Ziva, McGee, Abby, and Gibbs. Jack notice there is an elderly man with white hair and shining blue eyes, just like Gibbs's standing next to Gibbs in the picture. Everyone is standing with their arms around each other and smiling in the image.

"who is that?" Jack asks, pointing at the older man next to Gibbs.

"my father, Jackson Gibbs. It was a case we worked in Stillwater many years ago. The team meets my father, and he and I reconnected after we hadn't spoken for nearly 10 years."

"When was it taken?"

"2008."

"Your father and your team. It seems to me like this is a picture of where you belong, Gibbs. A picture of your family." Gibbs just smiles at the picture. He is about to put it back in the box but decides against it and places it on the table.

"I got another one for ya," Jack says and takes out her phone and finds a picture and shows it to Gibbs. It makes Gibbs smile. It is a photo taken the day the McGee-twins were born. When the whole team was gathered at the hospital.

"I'll make you an analog copy. It is more your style." She jokes, and Gibbs nods.

"thank you," Gibbs says with sincerity in his eyes. As he closes the box, he remembers the moment he came back from Paraguay together with McGee. The look on Abby's face right before she hugged him. She refused to let go for a long time. She just held on to him for dear life for a long time. Just like she did when he came back from Mexico over 10 years ago. Abby has been one constant in his life for many years. She has been like a daughter to him. Watching her grow as a person over the years has made the pain from losing Kelly a bit more bearable. Abby has been challenging him many times almost daily over the years, but he has always managed to put a smile on his face. She always gave him a feeling of pride, like a father's pride in his daughter. Abby has annoyed the heck out of him like when Abby referred to him and Jen as mom and dad that fights or when Abby was playing music way too loud for his taste but… She always made him proud. He has always been proud of her forensic skills, but most importantly he has been proud of her way of still being her self in a world filled with judgment, she has always stayed true to her self no matter what she faced over the years.

"you asked me why I became an agent, Jack," Gibbs says as he closes the box. Jack nods.

"to find a sense of belonging. The same reason Abby is now leaving NCIS. To find the next place for her to belong in the world."

Gibbs puts the box back where he took it, and they walk up the stairs to the living room. Jack sees the letter from Abby on Gibbs coffee table.

"you got mail?" Jack says when she notices the letter.

"yeah, it is from Abby." Jack looks surprised. Gibbs nods the go-ahead for her to read it while he goes to the kitchen to make some dinner for them.

"Hey, Gibbs. You're probably wondering what's with the retro communication. Truth is, I chickened out. I was afraid that if you asked me to stay, I might waiver because there's nothing I wouldn't do for you. When I think back on when things in my life got difficult, you were always there to tell me that it would be okay. And it would be because you would make it okay. But Gibbs, Reeves is gone, and it's not something anyone can fix. Not even you. I hope you know what you mean to me, Gibbs. Every moment, every lesson, every hug. I'm thankful for it all. No matter what we faced over the years, there was only ever one thing I needed to hear from you."

While Jack reads the letter, Gibbs is in the kitchen cooking up some quick dinner for them. He comes into the living room and places the two plates on the dining table.

"it is a beautiful letter." Gibbs nods.

"yeah."

Jack notices how Gibbs looks out the window like he is looking for someone standing outside the window when he puts the letter down on the coffee table. "I love ya, Abbs." He whispers as he places the letter down on the table. Then he walks over to have dinner with Jack.

**Note: I have 2 Abby stories in the process right now based on some requests, but I am waiting for my muse to hit me with a good idea. Stay tuned.**


	8. 1605 - what just happend?

**episode 1605**

**this is set right before the ending scene with Jack and Gibbs in Gibbs's basement. it is basically just Jack Sloane reflecting on the events doing the case. please let me know what you think.**

Sloane and Gibbs had sat in the backroom of the forensics lab and watched Kasie's video presentation. As they had watched the video something had happened between them. Sloane could feel it. as she was sitting in her office to finish up some paperwork she couldn't let go of the feeling of this case. There was something about this case that had hit both of them. Something that made whatever it was between them stronger. It was like their friendship, or whatever it is that is happening between them were getting stronger with this case. The emotions were so strong. It was a suicide case from 48 years ago but the feelings were still very present as they had gotten further into the truth about the case. The feeling of injustice for Ray Jennings. The sadness of the lieutenant who committed suicide. It had hit Jack so hard. In the lab, she had felt that it also hit Gibbs. They had both served in different wars but they knew how things in a war can have life-changing consequences like it had had for the Lieutenant. Both Sloane and Gibbs knew what war could do to a person and they have both seen some of the worst on their own body and family, maybe that was what had hit them so deeply.

When she was sitting there in that chair next to Gibbs in the back room of the forensics lab it had just felt natural. They were talking like they really understood each other. Ever since Jack had opened up to Gibbs about her captivity she had started to feel this strong trust and connection to Gibbs. And the fact that he had even gone along with her operation Cuckoo's Nest to find Vance and catch Hakim just proved to her that he really truly trusted her now. She had reached out and held his hand and it had just felt so natural to both of them… she thought… at least that was what she was hoping.

Her mind couldn't stop thinking what Gibbs thought of her afterward. Maybe he thought she had way overstepped the line. Maybe he didn't mind…

Once she had become aware of her hand she had taken her hand away and stood up to put some professional distance between them. She had forced her mind back to focus on the case but she couldn't let go of the feeling of his hand holding so firmly on to hers. She wasn't sure what to put into it. him holding on to her like that. Like it was a natural thing to him… to hold his coworker's hand.

Heck… she knew how close he had been with Abby. He would bring her, her favorite drink every day and he would kiss her on the head every once in a while. He saw Ellie as his daughter. That had become very clear to her early on, but she wasn't sure of the nature of her own relationship with Gibbs. She wasn't a part of his team. She doesn't report to him… at least not officially… but yet he comes to her from time to time and asks for her help. He confines in her when he has problems… like when he couldn't see face to face with his longtime friend Tobias Fornell, due to guilt. He has invited her to his house before and tonight… she just remembers he has invited her to his house for steaks. Gibbs had come to her earlier and asked her to come over for steaks. She wasn't sure what that meant. It didn't exactly sound like a typical romantic date more like Gibbs style classic. It made her smile thinking of it. he really is a cowboy.

A knock on the door brings Jack back to reality. Jack looks up and sees Gibbs standing in the doorway.

"Are you coming?" he asks with a smile.

She takes her black-framed glasses off and places them on the table. He walks over to her desk and grabs a lollipop from her jaw on her dest. He does that almost every time he comes in. she has noticed that he takes a new color every time. She is pretty sure he is doing that on purpose. Maybe she is just simply overthinking Gibbs. Maybe he is just a simple guy who is just as simple and straight forward as he seems. She notices he is looking at her with a questioned look. She shakes her head to tell him she wasn't thinking of anything important.

"yeah." She says with a smile and stands up. She grabs her jacket and they leave the office together to go to his house for steaks. She is going to have to figure out the nature of their relationship later. She cant believe he can possibly be as simple as he comes across. No one is that simple. Tonight she is just enjoying spending time with her friend and coworker.


	9. 1609 - a new friend

**In this episode(1609) there is a scene with Jack and Gibbs in Vance's office, I just thought it was really sweet and a tiny bit flirtatious. it gave me this idea. I love the friendship between Leon and Jack too and their history. Enjoy.**

Jack is about to leave her office. She's got her coat on and is about to grab her purse when it knocks on the door. "come in." she says, and she closes her computer.

"hey, Jack." Leon greets.

"Hey, Leon." Jack greets. "welcome back."

"thank you. I heard it all worked out." Leon says.

"Yeah, it sure did," Jack says happily to report the news to her director while she is walking around her office, grabbing a few things and sorting out the files on her desk. When Leon doesn't leave after having received the good news Jack looks over at him with a questioned look. "anything else, Leon?"

"Just wanted to see how you were doing," Leon says and receives a bewildered look from his friend.

"I'm good." She says a little hesitant, not sure to the nature of his question.

"Are you checking up on me, Leon?" she asks with a smile and grabs her purse.

"let's walk and talk," Leon says as Jack locks up her office door.

"sure." Jack says and stuffs her keys in her pocket. "what is up Leon?" she asks as they start walking towards the stairs.

"I was just wondering how you were doing. How things are going with the team? You seem to be working very effectively with the team." He says. as he is talking, he is looking over at her to see if he can detect any reaction from her to what he is saying. She suddenly stops walking and he stops and looks at her. she leans against the orange wall behind her and looks at him with squinted eyes and her arms crossed over her chest.

"I have been working here in DC under your command for over a year now Leon. You knew already that I work well with the team. What is this really about?" she asks. he signs in defeat. She saw right through his friend chat and called him out. He leans against the opposite wall.

"I notice yesterday how you and Gibbs seem to be pretty close…" Leon says and receives an irritated look on Jack's face. "which is great. I'm happy for you."

"stop it, Leon." Jack interrupts and pushes herself off the wall and starts walking. It makes Leon chuckle as he continues to walk with her.

"he is my colleague. Yeah sure we work well together, and that is it."

"I just detected some chemistry between the two of you yesterday. I know how you feel when your colleagues don't recognize your field as a valuable investigative tool. I was expecting a different reaction from you yesterday when Gibbs asked you to do your profile-thing."

it makes Jack smile. She knows there was a pretty obvious flirtatious thing going on between them yesterday, but she has no intention of confirming Leon's suspicion of something flirtations is going on between her and Gibbs.

"Leon…" Jack says in a serious tone and stops as they are reaching the top of the staircase leading down to the bullpen. "you…" she says and points a finger at his chest. "see what you want to see." It makes Leon chuckle and then Jack starts walking down the staircase.

"I'm happy for you that you got a friend, Jack."

"stop trying to set me up Leon," Jack calls back after him as she leaves the office and heads to the elevator. Leon just chuckles amused and starts heading to his car.

As Jack is standing waiting for the elevator, Gibbs comes up to her.

"hey." He says. She looks over at him. he has a cup of coffee in his hands which is nothing unusual. The elevator door opens, and they step in and Gibbs presses the button. Gibbs notices Jack has a small smile on her face.

"Everything okay, Jack?" he asks.

"it is just Leon."

"Leon?" Gibbs asks surprised.

"yes Leon… you know our director." Jack says in an exaggerated tone to explain to Gibbs who she is talking about even though she is fully aware that Gibbs is just messing with her and the fact that she casually uses the director's first name.

"oh right. Director Vance." Gibs says pretending like he just realized who she was talking about. "I forgot he is a personal friend of yours," Gibbs says almost sounding jealous.

"come on Gibbs," Jack says and they both start laughing.

"he has been trying to get me to meet new people since I moved to DC. He is concerned about my social life." Jack explains.

"is that a bad thing?" Gibbs asks almost concerned and takes a sip of his coffee. Jack looks over at him and sees the concern in his eyes.

"no, it isn't," she says with a reassuring smile. " a bit irritating when he starts to imagine friendships and relationships that aren't there," Jack says and then internally curse her self for saying the word relationship, but Gibbs doesn't seem to react to it.

"he is looking out for you. He cares about you, Jack." Gibbs says casually and Jack nods. She knows that Leon is just being a good friend to her. She looks over at him and recognizes the sweet smile on his face. it is the same sweet smile as he had yesterday. Then the elevator doors open and the ground floor. "a lot of people here do." Gibbs says and then he leaves the elevator.


	10. 1612 - a profile of the profiler

**Note: I just watched episode 1612 and I also earlier watched the preview for 1703 and it gave me this idea. I thought it could be funny. I hope you like it.**

Ellie is sitting in the forensics lab alone. It is late. Everyone else has gone home. She is sitting on the table. Tim, Torres, and Jimmy come into the lab.

"Bishop, what is going on?" Tim asks. He has his phone in his hand. Ellie sends her fellow agents a message to meet her in the lab.

"Are we having a meeting?" Jimmy asks.

"no guys I need to talk to you about something. Something is up." Ellie says in an almost whispering voice. She constantly looks towards the door to see if anyone is coming.

"Bishop, what is going on?" Tim asks a bit concerned.

"Have you noticed anything strange about Gibbs and Sloane lately?" Ellie asks.

The three men look confused at each other and then at Ellie. They are clearly not sure what she is referring to.

"I had this strange experience today. I came into the office and Sloane and Gibbs… they seemed to have like a private moment. They were standing really close. Sloane's hand was on Gibbs's chest. The way they were looking at each other."

Nick starts laughing. Jimmy looks really nervous as he always does when it has something to do with Gibbs and Tim just looks confused.

"come on Bishop. Gibbs and Sloane?" Nick asks in disbelieve and laughs.

"I'm not joking Nick I saw it," Ellie says persistently. In the same way, she usually does when no one buys her theory about a case.

"rule nr. 12." Jimmy reminds everyone. Torres and McGee's immediately agrees with Jimmy. "Gibbs rule nr. 12: never date a co-worker." McGee elaborates to remind Bishop specifically what rule nr 12 says.

"I know but I am telling you guys." Ellie sounds more persistent.

"Okay, Bishop let me show you something," Tim says and walks over and turns on the computer in the lab that Kasie normally uses to look up information for cases. Torres, Jimmy, and Ellie are standing next to him to follow along on the screen.

"that is Shannon Gibbs… Gibbs's first wife. Rebecca Chase, second Mrs. Gibbs. Diane Fornell, Gibbs 3. Wife and this is Stephanie Bronwyn Flynn, 4. Mrs. Gibbs. And this is former NCIS Director Jenny Shepard." Ther are now pictures of all 5 women on the screen. "do you see a pattern?" Tim asks and looks at Ellie with a determined look.

"They all have red hair. Gibbs definitely has a type." Torres concludes.

"yes… and Sloane." Tim says and pulls up Jackqueline Sloanes NCIS picture on the screen. "doesn't fit the profile." Tim says.

"that doesn't prove anything. I saw what I saw." Bishop is not that easy to convince.

"I get it, Tim. She has a different hair color, but… I know what I saw. There was definitely a 'thing' happening between them." Ellie is walking around restless on the floor as the always does when she is frustrated.

"listen Ellie. Rule nr. 12. We all know how determined Gibbs is about his rules. Gibbs would never violate any of his rules. He lives by those rules." Jimmy tries to explain.

"I know… but…"

"listen Bishop. I get how you could get the impression. Sloane can get in anyone's head. She knows how to Jedi mind-trick people…" Tim says.

"Yeah, and they are both stubborn as hell. They are both former militaries and they work pretty well together." Torres adds.

"they are actually pretty perfect for each other," Jimmy concludes. He almost surprised by his own conclusion based on the facts that are put on the table.

"almost too perfect," Torres adds and looks a bit creeped out about it.

"Just one problem," Tim says in a very determined matter of fact way. Ellie looks irritated at him. she hates when he doesn't get to the point right away. "she just doesn't fit the profile."

"what profile?" they hear Agent Sloane asks from the door and everyone is shocked and doesn't really know what to say or do or how to answer her question.

"did we have a new case?" she asks and walks over to the group.

"no. no. we were just talking." Tim tries to cover up. Everyone else nods in agreement. Sloane looks suspicious at them.

"I thought the case was closed," Sloanes says and looks around at the group with her arms crossed over her chest while she is leaning against the table. No one knows what to say or what to do about Jack's stare at them. There is an awkward silence among them. It is amusing Jack. She can see how uncomfortable especially Jimmy is. Suddenly all of them at once get a text message.

"We got a case," Torres says and almost runs out of the lab.

"saved by the bell…" Sloane says and laughs to her self as the group almost falls over each other to get to the elevator first. Sloane pushes her self of the table and by accident hits the mouse that reactivates the screen that had gone to black. She sees all pictures of the 5 redheaded women. She recognizes one of them… former NCIS Director Jennifer Shepard, who was killed in action a few years ago. But she doesn't recognize any other women on the screen that her picture is next to.

**note: if you would like a continuation of this chapter I am currently writing a multi-chapter continuation (wasn't the original plan but I got a request). I will post the continuation-story as a separate story. if you just liked this one as a one-shot I will update with more one-shots soon.**


	11. 1615 - be the solution

**1615 – Nick as a mentor**

**note: I loved this episode especially the head to head between Jack and Nick. we don't see that very often. enjoy**

**Pre last scene in the bullpen**

**Vance's office**

Vance is sitting in his office, catching up on the latest paperwork when his door is basically ripped open. He is expecting it to be Gibbs since it is usually Gibbs's style when he is upset about something involving lawyers or politicians, but… to Vance's big surprise, it is Jack Sloane.

"what were you thinking, Leon?" Jack asks, clearly furious about something.

"and good morning to you too, Jack," Leon says hesitant and gets up from his seat.

"quit it, Leon. Assigning Nick as a mentor?"

Vance now understands the reason for Jack's anger.

"Jack. Nick is a great agent and spoke with Gibbs about it. Agent Torres needed that assignment to train his more interpersonal side."

"so this was some teaching exercise?" Jack asks with a raised eyebrow. Clearly, that explanation didn't work.

"Miss Cook, could you ask Gibbs to come to my office?" Vance asks his secretary over the communication device.

"I told you to step lightly, Jack," Leon says as he walks over to his coffee machine to brew a cup of coffee for Jack to calm her down.

"I am not the issue here. I found Max down in autopsy yesterday, and I was talking with him about his father, and he is angry. Max is angry at the world, Leon." Leon nods in understanding. "He is trying to find answers to why he is alive and not his father." Jack is nearly yelling. "Nick… the way Nick was talking to him. I don't even know where to begin." She is furious just thinking about last night's events in autopsy with Agent Torres and Max.

"Jack, calm down. What happened?"

"What happened? Calling a mentee for an ungrateful punk, a good place to start?" Jack asks, furious as she looks directly at Vance. He seems shocked. Jack takes a moment to breathe and look out the window as she calms down a bit so she can actually explain to Leon what happened. Vance walks over to her as she is standing near the desk, looking out the window. He hands her the cup of coffee he just made for her. She takes a sit to calm down before she starts talking in a much calmer voice now.

"I was talking with Max last night. He was opening to me about how he was trying to cope with what happened. He is still in a grieving process and coming here as a mentee was a part of his healing process. Agent Torres didn't even bother to read Max's essay. Nick starts yelling at him and telling him this isn't a daycare and tells him he has been a pain in the ass for the past 2 days. And he told Max that he isn't showing any respect. I don't think it was Max who wasn't showing any respect, Leon."

It knocks on the door, and Gibbs enters.

"Gibbs, come on in." Leon greets. Gibbs looks a bit confused as to why Leon almost sounds like this is a casual, friendly meeting while Jack looks furious. "let's have a seat, shall we?" Leon tries. Jack doesn't seem to be in the mood for a friendly chat.

"what is going on?" Gibbs asks.

"have you spoken with Agent Torres about his mentees?" Leon starts.

"yes, I had a talk with him yesterday. It didn't go so well." Gibbs admits honestly.

"not so well?" Jack asks, almost yelling, and it shocks Gibbs. "he called a grieving kid for an ungrateful punk?"

"Gibbs, you requested I put Torres on the mentor-assignment?" Leon asks. Gibbs nods.

"yes. I thought it would be beneficial for Torres."

"and what about Max? Did you even read his essay?"

"yes, Jack," Gibbs says in the same snappy raised voice as Jack. "I was here that day 6 years ago. I was at Agent Girard's funeral. I saw that kid grieve over his father. I saw him being carried out of the building that day."

"so you thought 'hey let's use him as a training exercise for Agent Torres,'" Jack yells, and it makes Gibbs even more furious.

"No! What do you think of me?" Gibbs yells.

"right now, I am not so sure."

"ENOUGH!" Leon yells to get his two agents to calm down. "Gibbs, please explain yourself.

"Agent Torres lost his father when he was you, just like max. They are both searching for answers to why. An answer they will probably never find. Nick gets scared and holds back on something that is not familiar. I thought he would grow by getting to know Max and Max's story."

"he never even bothered to read Max's essay, Gibbs," Jack yells and throws her hands up in the air in frustration.

"where is agent Torres now?" Leon asks.

"he is taking a personal day," Gibbs explains.

"great. To avoid trouble." Jack says, irritated.

"no," Gibbs says, and Jack looks up to meet his eyes. She is still furious.

"he called me this morning. Saying he had a talk with Max last night and with you, Jack."

"yeah, where he didn't even want to listen to me."

"he is taking a day off today to be a real mentor for the kids, which he should have done from the start." He has learned from this, jack."

"Yeah, well, let's just hope that it hasn't caused more damage to Max," Jack says irritated and leaves the office, and she doesn't even bother to close the door behind her.

"Keep me updated, Gibbs," Leon says before Gibbs leaves the office too.

**Post episode - The next day in the diner**

It is early at around 7.30 when Jack enters the diner. Nick of all people texted her to meet her for breakfast at the diner. Nick is sitting at the booth in the corner and waves Jack over as she enters. She is a little hesitant to sit down.

"morning Jack." Nick greets with a smile. Jack is just looking at him, waiting for him to explain himself. She isn't going to let him butter her up with diner-breakfast.

"have a seat," Nick says, and Jacks reluctantly sits down across from him.

"What is this about, Nick?" She asks with her arms crossed over her chest. Nick waits to answer her until the waitress has poured a cup of coffee for her.

"I want to thank you," he says honestly. Jack looks surprised at him.

"for what? Yelling at you?" she asks and takes a sip of her coffee.

"no… for giving me a wakeup call. I failed as a mentor for the kids. Gibbs tested me, and I failed miserably. But thanks to you, I learned my lesson."

"and you took a grieving child down in the process."

"actually… I think Max learned something too. I spoke with him last night about maybe pursuing a career in NCIS, and he actually considers it. I had a chat with him about his father. I didn't know Ed Girard, but I am sure he would want his son to live his life and make peace with what happened to his father."

Jack nods in agreement, but her body-language still tells Nick that she still isn't happy with him.

"I know I didn't go around this whole mentor-thing the way I should have, but…

"mentor-thing? Nick?" Jack says, raising her voice a bit.

"okay. Okay." Nick says, trying to calm her down. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, okay. I should have read his essay."

"Nick, you don't get it. This isn't about Max or his essay. It is about you. Like Max said, you treated him and the other mentees as an inconvenience like it were beneath you to mentor them. Training the future generation of Agents is a part of being a good agent. Being an agent isn't about being the best, the strongest, or the fastest. It about teaches what you know to the next agent." Nick nods. he knows Jack is right. "I thought you would have learned that from Gibbs by now." Jack takes a sip of her coffee. Nick looks down, embarrassed. His main goal since he joined the Gibbs team has been to live up to Gibbs's expectations of him. And over the past few days, he has failed.

"I used to think to be an agent was all about solving cases," Nick admits.

"It is way more than that. It isn't just about cases." Jack says.

Nick nods. "I know. Max said to me that his father used to say: in a world filled with problems. Be the solution."

"exactly, Nick. Remember that." Jack says and smiles at him for the first time since she entered the diner. The waitress comes over to their table again. She has a plate with blueberries pancakes that she places in front of Jack along with a side of bacon.

"I didn't order pancakes," Jack says.

"I did… for you," Nick says with a smile, and the waitress places the pancakes in front of Jack.

"you are trying to butter me up, aren't you?" Jack jokes.

"Nah. I am just cleaning up the mess I created. I cleaned up with Max and the other mentees." Nick says with a twinkle in his eye that Jack can't really resist.

"apology accepted Nick," Jack says and starts cutting her pancakes. Then the doorbell rings, and Gibbs and Bishop enter the diner. The walk straight over to the table where Jack and Nick are seated. Gibbs scoots in next to Jack while Bishop sits down next to Nick.

"Are you guys starting without us?" Ellie asks indignantly to Nick.

"only Jack," Nick says and smiles at Jack, who is eating her pancake.

"Uhm Bacon," Ellie says and reaches over to snatch one of the pieces of Bacon on Jack's plate.

"hey. Hands off." Jack says and puffs Bishop's hand away before she can grab a slice of bacon.

"Gibbs grabbed one," Ellie says, and Jack looks over at Gibbs, who is chewing on a piece of bacon that he secretly snatched from Jack's plate, while he has a big satisfied smile on his face. Jack playfully pushes Gibbs's shoulder, and everyone starts laughing.

Nothing creates solutions in a world filled with problems lake a plate of pancakes and bacon shared with good friends.


	12. 1616 - Gibbs's girl

**Note: have anyone else noticed that we never actually get to see Senior meeting Jack Sloane? I have... and that gave me an idea because… no scene means open for interpretation and a fanfiction opportunity. Here is mine. enjoy.**

**Squad room**

Senior is standing in the squad room talking with Gibbs when Ellie accompanied by a blonde woman that Tony Senior hasn't meet before enters from behind the big screen. Senior certainly likes what he is seeing. Senior has always liked the female employees of Gibbs's team. Abby, Ziva, Ellie and now this woman. Gibbs definitely knows how to hire the most attractive women, according to Senior. Besides, Senior Thinks, they have all been a bit too young for Gibbs, besides this new beautiful blonde woman, who has just entered the office. She is stylish and beautiful and at the same time, she shows authority and respect around himself. Just a woman for Senior's taste.

"hey Gibbs, we got a new lead," Ellie says looking at the file. Then she looks up and sees Senior.

"oh my god, Senior. How are you?" she says excited and hugs Senior.

"it is great to see you, Eleanor." Senior Greets and takes the young woman into a loving hug.

"what are you doing here senior?" Ellie asks as they end the hug.

"I was just talking to Gibbs," DiNozzo explains in a casual tone like it had absolutely no important anymore. He now turns his focus to the blonde woman next to Ellie. She seems to be a good amount of years older than Ellie. "And I don't think we have met." He says and turns to Jack with his characteristic DiNozzo charming smile. Jack reaches her hand out formally.

"I'm special agent, Jack Sloane." DiNozzo takes her hand and holds it for a bit longer.

"Jack?" DiNozzo asks. "how come such a beautiful attractive woman have a men's name?"

"well thank you, Mr. DiNozzo. It is short for Jacqueline. men's name in a men's world." Jack explains with a smile.

"Well, the men in this men's world should certainly start paying more attention to the beauty in this office," DiNozzo says and turns his head towards Gibbs who doesn't seem to pay any attention to the conversation. It amuses Sloane. She knows Gibbs is paying very much attention to the conversation despite the apparent.

"did you have something, Bishop?" Gibbs asks. He sounds a bit irritated. DiNozzo moves to stand next to the two beautiful young women as Ellie hands Gibbs the file. They are all 3 facing Gibbs. Gibbs looks through the file and then he looks up at Bishop.

"Senior we got to do a raincheck. I got a case going here." Gibbs says trying to sound apologetic to Senior. Senior takes it as a cue for his exit.

He turns to the 2 young ladies.

"Senior it was so great to see you again," Ellie says and gives the elderly man a big hug. Than DiNozzo turns to Sloane.

"Jacqueline it was a pleasure to meet you. perhaps you could join me and Gibbs on that raincheck beer sometime." DiNozzo says as he takes Jack into a hug.

"I would love that." Jack politely accepts.

"or perhaps you are more for the finer taste." DiNozzo offers with his classic playboy charm.

It makes Jack giggle. "Nah I'm a classic girl I like a beer and a steak," Jack says with a smile. DiNozzo looks over at Gibbs with his classic victory smile but all he sees on Gibb's face is the classic irritated Gibbs-stare and DiNozzo politely takes his exit.

**Sloane's office**

It is late and Sloane is sitting in her office finishing up some paperwork. It knocks on the door. she looks up and takes off her glasses before she gives the "come in." the door is hesitantly open and Mr. DiNozzo senior pokes his head in. Not exactly who Sloane was hoping for when she is being honest. She stands up and greets her unexpected guest with a smile.

"Mr. DiNozzo what can I do for you?" she asks and gives him a quick hug.

The elderly man seems a bit on edge. On the contrary to earlier when she met him in the squad room.

"I just wanted to do some damage control." He says and scratches the back of his head. Sloane doesn't quite understand.

"You weren't the one causing trouble for Jimmy. You were trying to help. Don't apologies for that."

"Oh… no-no." Senior lights up in a smile. "I didn't mean about the case. I meant with Gibbs." Sloane looks even more confused now.

"Gibbs isn't here," Sloane says confused.

"no, I know. I just wanted to make sure I didn't cause any trouble between you and Gibbs?" Sloane looks confused.

"me and Gibbs+" she repeats questioning.

"yeah, I don't want to get on Gibbs bad side by getting too close to you. I meant nothing bad when I invited you to that raincheck."

"no worry Mr. DiNozzo. No one thought you did. It was very kind of you to invite me."

"I think Gibbs might have thought ill of it. he gave me the famous Gibbs-Stare." It makes both Sloane and DiNozzo laugh. "I don't want to get in between Gibbs and his girl," DiNozzo says with a knowing look. Sloane is starting to understand what he is referring to. Mr. DiNozzo Senior thinks Gibbs and Sloane are an item. "oh, don't worry Mr. DiNozzo. I can assure you there is nothing personal between me and Gibbs." In the same second Gibbs enters by a quick knock un the door.

"Jack are you ready?" Gibbs stops and looks surprised at Senior.

"What are you doing here?" he asks, sounding a bit irritated about DiNozzo. "I thought I walked you out hours ago."

"You did. I just needed to clear the air with your dear Jacqueline here."

DiNozzo says with a charming smile to Jack before he walks towards the door where Gibbs is standing looking question at DiNozzo.

"ill leave now. So, you and your girl can enjoy your evening." DiNozzo says with a teasing knowing look to Gibbs before he leaves. Gibbs looks confused over at Jack. Jack looks just as confused.

"my girl?" Gibbs asks Sloane and walks further into the office, closer to Sloane. They are just looking at each other. None of them knowing what to say. There is a thick air of unspoken uncertainties between them.

"what did you say to him?" both finally says at the same time. They confused at each other.

"me?" they both say in unison "I didn't say anything." They both respond. It makes both of them smile that they are speaking in harmony.

"wow aren't you two just adorable." They are interrupted by Director Vance who is standing in the door.

"Hey, Leon." They both say again in unison.

"how long have you two been practicing that?" Leon asks amused.

They just look at each other like they have no clue what he is talking about.

"did you need something Leon?" Gibbs asks.

"no," Leon says with a smile. Clearly reading the situation that he was interrupting a private disagreement between his two agents.

"Have a good night," Leon says and starts to close the door. right before the door closes completely Leone poke his head in and says with a big teasing smile. "stop talking in unison." Than Leon closes the door and Jack and Gibbs are left alone in her office. There is an awkward silence between them which is unusual. Normally there is always a comfortable relaxed atmosphere around them when they are together.

"so, you want to grab that beer and a steak?" Gibbs asks and Sloane smiles and looks away from Gibbs.

"sure. Let me get my stuff." Sloane walks to her desk and starts closing down her computer and put away her paperwork she was working on. She grabs her jacket and walks over to Gibbs. She takes his arm that he is offering her, and they walk to the door together. He elegantly as the gentleman he opens the door for her. she turns off the light and they leave the office together.

"so what do you think gave Mr. DiNozzo Senior the impression I am your girl?" Sloane asks once they are in the privacy of the closed elevator. Gibbs just nonchalantly shrugs. "He is a DiNozzo. He sees romance and relationships every time he sees a beautiful woman. it is how he is." Gibbs just simply respond without ever looking at her. the compliment to her hidden within his assessment of DiNozzo doesn't go unnoticed and she starts to feel a blush on her face, and she looks away from Gibbs.

"You never protested when he called me your girl." Sloane says trying to see if she can get him tipped of his very confident balance and actually get him to admit what he just said and what she thinks he meant with that Gibbs-stare to DiNozzo earlier, but all he says back as the elevator doors open is. "neither did you." he looks at her with a big teasing "I won." Smile and leaves the elevator. She signs in defeat and follows him out of the elevator to the parking lot.

**Note: I know this is not how the episode ended but I feel like it could have been.**


	13. 1617 - stolen moments

**additions to episode 1617**

**MTAC**

Jack is sitting in MTAC. She is following the working in progress from the undersecretary Leo. the door is ripped open and Nick comes in. "Jack… we got Miller. We have regained contact with the sub and the USS Memphis is surfacing. Gibbs and Bishop are on their way back." Nick says before Jack can say anything. Jack doesn't have words for how relieved she feels right now. Her heart has been beating impossibly fast. She hasn't moved out of MTAC since Torres and McGee left the office to find and stop Miller. She needed to stay in there so she would know that Gibbs and Bishop would be okay. Epically Gibbs… she tried to force her brain to also focus on Bishop but for some reason, her mind kept flashing images for her of Gibbs's sweet smile. Torres sits down next to Jack. He seems so relaxed too. Jack had noticed how upset and worried he had been all days, which obviously was completely understandable considering they had two agents stuck on an out of control nuclear submarine. She has also noticed how close Bishop and Torres seem to be on a personal level. Especially over Christmas, they had seemed almost like a couple. Jack hadn't said anything… she didn't what to spook them but they would make a cute couple. Jack had thought to herself several times.

"How are you doing Nick?" Jack asks and rests a hand on his arm. He looks down at her hand and then at her. she quickly removes her hand from him. realizing she might have overstepped.

"It is okay, Jack." He says and looks straight ahead on the big screen. "I was pretty freaked out earlier." He admits. And then quickly look over at Sloane. "don't tell Bishop." It makes Sloane smile. She knows how close Bishop and Torres are even though none of them have ever admitted it. "for a while I thought I was never going to see her or speak to her again." He admits. He just stares straight ahead. Sloane completely understands what he is talking about. She felt the same about Gibbs.

"I don't think I can lose another colleague…"

"she isn't just another colleague or fellow agent to you," Jack says.

"she is my partner. She is… I don't know... My friend… She was there for me when we lost Reeves and Abby left." Jack just nods in understanding. "I never thought I needed someone to rely on… I am an undercover agent. I am used to working alone.

"having a friend that you can rely on is everything in this job Nick."

Torres nods. "incoming call from the USS Memphis." The technical assistant announces, and a big but unstable video fee of Gibbs comes up on the big screen. Torres and Sloane immediately stand up and approaches the screen. "Gibbs… are you alright?" Jack asks.

"We are fine. We are on our way back now."

Jack can feel her heartbeat slowing down just from seeing Gibbs alive and safe. He looks tired and a bit stressed out but otherwise fine. Torres is looking at the picture and, in the background, but he doesn't see Bishop anywhere.

"where is Bishop? How is she?" Torres asks. He can see the smile on Jack's faces a she looks over at him, but he doesn't react to it.

"Bishop is finishing up now. We will be back in a few hours, Torres." Gibbs says and turns back to Jack. She asks what happened on the sub and he informs her of the events and after Gibbs is done updating her, Torres notices how it, for a moment seems like they are having some sort of romantic moment just starring at each other. None of them are talking. Just looking at each other. It does make Nick a bit uncomfortable being around them and Nick is about to head towards to door to give them some privacy.

"Gibbs update." Their moment is interrupted by Leon Vance entering MTAC. He stands in front of the screen and Jack and Torres walk towards the door. Jack reaches for the door handle, but Nick grabs her hand to stop her for a moment.

"Our talk earlier…" he says and looks at her with an intense sincere look. "stays between us." He says and she nods in understanding. He is about to reach for the door handle but she grabs his hand to stop him. he looks into her eyes and she has the same intense stare. "what you just saw…" she says with the same whisper in her voice as he has. "stays between us." She adds and he nods in agreement before they both leave MTAC.

**Duckys party**

It had been a long and tough day for Gibbs. He had been stuck on a nuclear submarine with Bishop. He had been locked in a room and the submarine had nearly been sunk by the SECNAV's order instead of going into a nuclear war with a Russian ship but the day at work had ended with the entire team along with director Vance and Jack had surprised Ducky with his new position as NCIS historian. It had been an overall okay day. After the celebration with Duckey Gibbs had walked Sloane to her car.

"it is going to be good to go home a get some rest," Gibbs says as they approach the cars.

"I doubt I'll get any sleep," Sloane says and finds her car keys in her pocket. Gibbs looks concerned at her. he notices how exhausted she looks. She notices the way he looks at her with concern on his face, so she elaborates.

"thinking of you and Bishop stuck in that submarine with no way of communication. Just thinking of it makes me really uncomfortable even though I know you probably had a plan the whole time. I was in the MTAC when the SECNAV started talking about the last solution was to sink the sub. Not exactly what you want to hear when there are people you care about onboard the sub." Sloane is looking down. She is clearly affected by the events of the day. Gibbs takes her hand and gently screes it.

"why don't you come over to my house…" he officer and when he notice the surprised look on her face and he realized what the offer might have sounded like he adds quickly "to have a beer?" he forces a little smile on his face to try and hide how tired he is too and how much it affects him knowing how much she worries about him. Sloane looks up and meets his eyes. They are so soft, and the shy comforting smile he gives her just makes the load of the day a bit easier. She gets in her car and Gibbs gets in his. On the way home Gibbs stops by the store to pick up a few things before he heads home.

**Gibbs's house **

Gibbs arrives at his house and sees that Sloane's car is already parked in the driveway. He parks behind her. He has a feeling that she is going to stay for the night. She usually does when she comes over for a beer and a download of the day. He enters the house and walks into the living room. Sloane is laying down on the couch sleeping. She is curled up to as small as she can. She looks cold. She has her jacket on and her hands pulled inside her jacket sleeves. He walks to his guestroom and grabs a blanket and places it over her. after that, he starts a fire to heat up the living room. After the fire is nicely going, he goes to take a shower. He comes back into the living room Jack is sitting in front of the fireplaces wrapped in the blanket. She looks up at him as he is standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Nice and clean and in a big USMC hoodie ad sweatpants. She likes his professional agent-look in the suit but there is something about him in his nice and comfy hoodies that she just finds incredibly attractive. Obviously, she would never tell anyone that.

She just simply smiles at Gibbs and he sits down next to her and opens a beer and hands it to her. she takes it and the blanket falls down a bit over her shoulder. He gently pulls t up over her shoulder and she leans her head against his shoulder. They are just sitting in front of the fire comfortably enjoying the silence and the sound of the fire while silently enjoying each other's company.

"I had no plan." He finally says after a long time of silence. She looks up at him. he is just starring into the fire. He then takes a sip of his beer before he elaborates. "I had no idea how to handle it today. Bishop was scared. I kept telling her it was normal what was happening. She didn't believe me. I could have lost her today."

"I could have lost you too." She says looking into the fire too. Too afraid of looking at him because she might not like what she sees. she is too afraid she might see either confusing or rejection in his face so she just forces herself to stare into the fire. Gibbs looks down at her. all he sees is the top of her head. her head is resting on his shoulder. her forehead is just the right height for him to place a soft kiss on it. Jack isn't sure what the kiss means. she is too afraid to look up at him. Gibbs is waiting for her to look but she never does so he leans an arm around her shoulders and pulls her closer to him.

There are a lot of unspoken emotions between them. over the past few months, there have been a bunch of stolen little moments where Jack would feel Gibbs's hand accidentally brushed against hers and it would give her a chill. sometimes he would even take her and squess it for comfort. he would sometimes take her in for a hug if she was having a bad or a rough day. sometimes he comes to her office just to see how she is doing... in the beginning she thought he was checking up on her but, she has really come to like getting the little surprise visits from him doing the day. Jack isn't sure whether these little moments that are giving her butterflies in her stomach are real or just in her head. all she knows is how much she enjoys spending time with the man who has become her best, most trusted and dearest friend. and today she thought she nearly lost him on a rough nuclear submarine. in the car on the way to Gibb's house tonight after Duckys party she told her self to tell Gibbs how she feels. to not waste any more precious time on little stolen moments, but... when she came to the house and Gibbs wasn't there yet... as she sat on the couch waiting for him she lost her courage. she fell asleep on the couch and once she woke up and she saw the little fire he had started and that he had placed a blanket on her to keep her warm. she had decided that once he entered the room again she was going to walk straight up to him and tell him the truth, but her courage had failed her... once again. She is a train special agent and she can handle terrorists and murders but she can't work up her nerves tell her best friend how she feels.

As they sat there by the fire and she could feel him holding her close to him she felt okay. For now, just being friends and feeling the comfort from each other seems to be enough... for now.


	14. pre 1619 - Daughters

**Note: this scene is supposed to be placed somewhere before 16x19. This story was inspired by episode 17x14 where Gibbs says "these are the only kids I have left" but at the same time ever since I watched episode 16x19 I have been thinking "how would Jack tell Gibbs about Faith for the first time?" so this became my version of that conversation between Gibbs and Jack. I hope you enjoy it and as always please leave a comment on your thoughts.**

Jack and Gibbs are at a bar and are getting a beer after work. They are sitting in a small booth in the corner of a dark bar with dimmed light. They are both having a beer. Gibbs can see something is on Jack's mind, but she isn't saying anything.

"what is on your mind Jack?" he asks. she looks bewildered at him. "you said you wanted to talk. You aren't saying anything." Gibbs says and takes a sip of his beer.

"your daughter… Kelly." Gibbs nods when Jack says her name, but he isn't sure why she would bring Kelly up. "how old would she be now?"

"about 32," Gibbs says. Jack nods.

"did you and your wife plan to have kids?" Jack asks.

"Nothing ever went as planned in my life, Jack," Gibbs says and takes a sip of his beer.

"right," Jack says and looks out over the bar.

"do you remember the first time you held her?"

Gibbs nods and smiles. "yeah. She was so small. I was so scared."

"you were scared?" Jack asks in disbelieve. Gibbs nods.

"Yeah. I had never held such a tiny little human being in my hands before. I didn't know how to be a dad or what to do."

"you are used to be able to train for everything, but you can't train or study to be a good parent," Jack says. it almost seems to Gibbs like she knows what she is talking about like she is talking like a parent which surprises him.

"yeah to me it seemed like my dad he always knew how to be a good dad. Shannon, she was so great. It seemed like she always knew exactly what do to and how to do it."

"I think that was just how you saw it. your dad as the perfect dad that you were trying to live up. Isn't that always how we see our parents?" Jack asks. Gibbs nods.

"Yeah, I guess so. When Kelly took her first steps, or she said her first word. It was…" Gibbs doesn't know how to describe it which amazes Jack. She has a picture of Gibbs as an amazing dad for his little girl. Gibbs remembers his little girl the day she was born. She was so small. She was just staring up at him with her big curious eyes. she always had that curious look in her eyes, or at least that is how he remembers it. she was always so curious. When she started walking Shannon said she needs to have an eye on each finger and in the back of her head to be able to keep track of Kelly. The memory makes Gibbs smile. He snaps out of the memory again when he feels Jack's hand on his hand that is resting on the table.

"I'm sure you were an amazing dad." She says almost whispering as she is looking into his light blue eyes. the emotional memories of Kelly are getting too much for him, so he takes a sip of his beer when he doesn't know how to respond to that. Jack suddenly becomes aware of her hand on his and she quickly removes it and looks away from him again.

"what is on your mind, Jack?" Gibbs asks again. Jack continues to look out over the bar away from Gibbs for a while until she suddenly turns back to Gibbs and says. "I have a daughter too."

Gibbs looks surprised at her.

"or had…" she adds and takes a sip of her beer.

"is she?" Gibbs asks.

"she is alive. I gave her up for adoption the day she was born. I haven't seen her since." Jack explains and Gibbs nods un understanding. He is surprised but not as surprised as Jack would have expected. Gibbs has noticed Jack's mother instinct on several occasions when they have worked cases involving kids. Over Christmas when he saw Jack with the little baby. It seemed so natural and when Jack spoke with the

"What is her name?" Gibbs asks.

"Faith," Jack says and looks away from Gibbs. He notices how tears are starting to form in her eyes and she is trying to hide it. Jack wipes a tear away before she looks at him again. "she lives here in DC."

"I thought you said…" he starts confused. "I haven't seen her since she was born, but…" Jack says interrupting Gibbs.

"you haven't contacted her, but you looked her up?" Jack nods.

"may I ask…"

"why I gave her up for adoption? Why I was such a selfish person?"

"I didn't say that." Gibbs interrupts. "I don't think you are. There are many reasons for people to give up a child for adoption, and…" Gibbs says and Jack looks at Gibbs. He reaches over and takes her hand in his as she did earlier. "you said to Tanja that there are many reasons for parents to give their child up for adoption and the most important one is to give it a better chance in life." Jack looks down at their hands and nods.

"I was young. It had just enlisted in the army. I was ready to go out and save the world." That makes Gibbs chuckle. And Jack starts smiling too. "yeah I know I was young and naïve."

"don't we all enlist to save the world?" Gibbs asks and Jack nods.

"I became pregnant and I knew I couldn't provide for my baby."

"what about the father?" Gibbs asks.

"not exactly father of the year kind of guy." Jack says. "not my best judgment-call." She adds.

"I made sure she was handed off to a nice family and for a long time, while I was in the army, I didn't think much of it. I was living my life the way I had always wanted. I was free as a bird and out saving the world. The army… my unit… they were my family. They where the only family I needed, until…" she doesn't continue but Gibbs knows what she is referring to. He gently strokes her hand with his thumb and that makes her feel better. She has wanted to tell Gibbs about Faith for a while, but she was afraid of how he would react to it.

"I'm really glad you aren't thinking I am an awful person." She says after a few minutes where they are just sitting in silence where he is gently holding her hand.

"why would I?" he asks almost whispering. His eyes are filled with so much softness as he is looking at her in the dimmed light in the bar.

"after you told me what happened to your daughter… I wasn't sure I should tell you."

Gibbs looks confused at her, so she elaborates.

"you didn't get to watch your little girl grow up because of awful circumstances while I chose to not watch my little girl grow up." She looks away from him when she can feel another tear starts forming in her eyes, but she takes her hand when she reaches up to wipe it away.

"Hey…" he says to get her to look at him. she looks at him again. "you had a reason to do what you did. I don't judge. I wish I could have watched Kelly grow up and become the amazing young woman that she was meant to be, but… that didn't happen. I have been lucky enough to see 4 other young women grown into amazing and talented young women and I have come to think of them as my children. Some of them I had to watch go again, but… that doesn't mean I judge your choices."

Jack nods. That was exactly what she was hoping to hear from Gibbs but what she was afraid she wouldn't.

"How old is Faith now?" Gibbs asks.

"she is about 28. She just finished medical school." Jack says.

"smart girl," Gibbs says. Jack nods. "yeah." Jack look into Gibbs's eyes and notice the sad smile in his eyes.

"I'm sure Kelly was too," Jack says.

"she was smart." Gibbs says. "she always came up with ways to get around rules." That makes them both chuckles. "she sounds like you." Jack says and it makes them both laugh and Gibbs nods.

"yeah…. she was my whole world," Gibbs says. Jack recognizes the sad smile on Gibbs's face, from whenever he has told her about Kelly before.

"did you and Shannon ever consider having more children?" Jack asks as they leave the bar and walk out onto the dark empty street.

"no… Shannon said having 1 child with my stubbornness was more than enough." That makes them both laugh.

"I can imagine," Jack says.

"since Kelly started walking, we had to have an eye on her 24/7 otherwise she would run down to the basement."

"wow… a mini Gibbs." Jack says and Gibbs chuckles.

"Yeah… she helped me with my woodwork in the basement from she was little. She loved being down there with me. It was our thing."

"it sounds like a lot of great memories," Jack says and leans closer to Gibbs as they walk towards their cars in the cold night.

"Yeah. With all of my kids." Gibbs says remembering some of the greatest times he has had in his basement with Kate, Abby, Ziva, Ellie, Tony, Tim, and Nick. All of whom he has come to think of as his own children. he never got the chance to watch Kelly grow up and become an amazing human being but he did get the chance to watch his other kids grow up and some of them to even become a parent themselves.

adopted or biological - it makes no difference to Gibbs - he loves all of his kids.


	15. 1619 - Faith

**Note: this is post-1619 where Jack leaves Faith's house after she has handed faith the photo and the phone number.**

**I know this isn't very long but I feeling like I get the point out I wanted to. Enjoy end please leave a comment on your thoughts.**

Jack left Faith standing on the street in front of her house after Jack gave Faith the photo and her phone number. Jack drove around in her car for hours. She kept subconsciously looking at her phone, hoping it would ring and it would be Faith. After a few hours. It started turning dark. Jack didn't want to go home. she didn't know where to go or what to do but somehow she found herself in her car, parked outside of Gibbs's house. she stayed in the car for a while. She didn't know if she wanted to go in or if she wanted to speak with anyone or even what to say. Jack had walked away from a crime scene. She had argued with Gibbs. She usually never does that. He had used the information she had given him about her daughter and he had thrown it in her face. she was angry with him but for some reason, it was still his house she ended up parked outside. After she has seen him for the 3rd time looking out the window from the living room, she decided to get out of the car and go inside.

She enters the living room. he is sitting on the couch with a book and there are 2 beer bottles on the coffee table. She drops down next to him without saying a word. She is just sitting there in comfortable silence as he continues reading his book. He places the book down on the table when he has finished the chapter he was reading. Gibbs hands Jack one of the beer bottles and takes a sip of the other one.

"How did it go?" Gibbs finally asks and leans back against the backrest. He doesn't look at her. he looks op into the ceiling. Jack leans back against the couch. she is almost laying down.

"it didn't." Jack finally says. it is the first words she has said since she left Faith.

"what happened?" Gibbs asks. Jack looks over at Gibbs.

"she hates me," Jack says and starts feeling the tears falling down her face again.

"she doesn't hate you."

"she asked me why I didn't stay in California? She thinks I gave her up for adoption to make my own life great." The tears are falling down Jack's face now.

"Jack." Gibbs wraps his arms around her and holds her close to him so her head is resting on his chest. He places a kiss on the top of her head. For a moment they are just sitting there in silence. The only sound is from Jack crying.

"I gave her my phone number and a photo from the day she was born. I wrote to her that she could call me no matter what."

"that is great."

"I don't think she will call. She is too angry with me."

"Jack," Gibbs says waiting for Jack to look up at him and meet his eyes. eventually, she does and he continues talking. "what you gave Faith up for adoption the day she was born. She didn't have a choice. You made the choice for her. throughout her entire life, she hasn't had a choice whether she wanted to get to know you are not."

"I know I am a terrible mother, Gibbs," Jack says angry and stands up. She wipes the tears off her face.

"that is not what I am saying." Gibbs says calmly and it makes Jack a bit calmer. "what I am saying is…" he waits for Jack to sit down on the couch again. once she does he takes her hands in his.

"when you and she were in the same room for the first time since the day she was born… that was the first time in her life that she has had a chance to make a choice for her self on weather she want to know you are not."

"what are you saying?" Jack asks and wipes another tear away.

"you gave her your number. Now it is her choice to make whether the two of you are going to know each other or not. You can't force her and make the choice for her."

"what if she doesn't call me?" Jack asks worriedly. Gibbs reassuringly squeezes her hand.

"you have to wait for her to make the decision, Jack."

Jack leans back against the couch and look up at the ceiling and exhale resignedly.

"I hate when you are right, Gibbs."

It makes Gibbs smile.

"I know." He simply says and leans back next to her.


	16. 1705 - Phineas - good question

1705 – Phineas – good question

**Note: I loved last night's episode BUT WHERE were SLIBBS? This popped into my head because kids they ask questions and some of them seem simple but are actually quite complicated to answer. Some of the questions I heard in my work with kids, as camp counselor inspired me to write this piece about Phineas(love the name) and also I think we needed some more Slibbs. I image this could be a side plot in episode 1705. Let me know what you think and enjoy it.**

**Gibbs's house**

As she drives down the quiet street where Gibbs lives, she sees a young boy with a baseball glove on playing in the front yard of the house across the street from Gibbs. She notices the young boy waves at her as she drives into the driveway at Gibbs's house. His car isn't there so he must be out somewhere. She parks her car and gets out and now notices the young boy with the baseball glove runs across the street to her.

"hey, Jethro Gi…" the young boy stops when Jack turns around to face him.

"hey there." She says with a smile.

"can I help you with something."

"This is Jethro Gibbs's house." He says a little disappointed.

"I know," Jack says with a smile. "I'm Jack." She says and reaches out a hand to him. the young boy looks to the ground.

"What is your name?" she asks and tilts her head a bit.

"Phineas." He says a little shy. "where is Jethro Gibbs?" he asks. Jack looks back over her shoulder at the dark windows in the house. Even the windows to the basement are blacked out. "I don't know. I thought he was home."

"Are you his wife?" Phineas asks. He seems to have gained a bit more confidence now. Jack chuckles.

"his wife?" she asks with a raised eyebrow. "no I'm not. We are just good friends."

"so you are his girlfriend?" Phineas asks. Jack doesn't know how to answer that question. It has been 2 weeks since they addressed the elephant in the room and Gibbs took matters into his own hands and latterly put it out in the open in her office, but… They haven't really spoken much of it and they haven't defined what they are or what the new stages in their relationship, professional and personal, mean. She notices the young boy is looking at her waiting for an answer.

"I guess…" jack says and looks distended past Phineas while she is thinking about how to answer the question. "I mean… I suppose…. Kinda… I guess…" Jack finally looks at the young boy with a shy smile. the young boy just looks a bit confused like he doesn't really know what to say next.

"Phineas…" a woman is standing on the porch of the house in front of which Phineas was playing baseball when Jack arrived. Phineas and Jack look over at the woman.

"that is my mom… I better go home," he says and walks down the driveway.

"It was nice meeting you… Jack." He adds her name with a bit of hesitation like he needed to think whether he heard her name correctly.

"you too Phineas," Jack says with a smile as the boy runs across the street back to his mother.

**Gibbs's house **

Gibbs walks back to his house across the street after he spoke to Sarah, Phineas' mother. He starts finding some materials in his garage to get some work done on the outside of his house. he is standing in his driveway in front of his garage working on some woodwork. He can feel he is being watched by Phineas across the street. Gibbs is aware of him but focuses on his task at hand. Gibbs is standing with his back towards the street to do some measurements when he hears hesitant footsteps in his driveway and Phineas approaches him. Gibbs turns around and awaits the young boy to speak.

"Mr. Gibbs?" the young boy starts hesitantly.

"yes, Phineas…" Gibbs says waiting in anticipation for the young boy.

"can I ask you a question."

"sure," Gibbs says and gets back to his task at hand while he listens to the young boy.

"How can someone have a boyfriend if they aren't sure that they have a boyfriend?" Phineas asks. Gibbs chuckles and stops working.

"what?" Gibbs asks and laughs. "what kind of question is that?"

Phineas shrugs. "I was just wondering."

"you have a girlfriend, Phineas?" Gibbs asks amused by the young boy's very strange question. "no." Phineas quickly says and looks up at Gibbs.

"I mean… yesterday… there was a woman at your house. at first, I thought it was you coming home when I saw the car, but it wasn't…"

"a woman… can you describe her, Phineas?" Gibbs is wondering who that woman could be. Normally the only woman who comes over to his house is Jack Sloane, but they didn't have any plans of her coming over yesterday.

"she was blonde, tall… She looked nice…" he says. he is clearly not used to describing people and it amuses Gibbs. Gibbs takes out his wallet and finds a picture of his team. The picture was taken when Kasie got officially instated as the new permanent forensic expert of NCIS. The team had gone out for dinner together and Ellie had insisted on a group photo being taken. Jack had given Gibbs a copy of it a few days later. At first, it had felt a bit strange to him to have a photo of the people that he sees every day at work so he had placed it in his wallet and mostly forgotten about it. he shows Phineas the photo. Phineas immediately points at the blonde smiling woman sitting right next to Gibbs on the photo.

"It was her." Gibbs nods.

"that is Jack…"

"your girlfriend?" Phineas asks. Gibbs just chuckles. He doesn't really know what to say so he turns back to his work. It makes him feel more comfortable. He hasn't had a serious relationship since he dated Lieutenant Colonel Hollis Mann, but he never actually called her 'his girlfriend'.

"I asked her if she was your girlfriend," Phineas says and starts walking around Gibbs's project. He touches a few things as he mostly observes Gibbs.

"Yeah… what did she say?" Gibbs asks, curious to know how Jack, who always seems to be a lot better with talking about the emotional and relationship stuff than him, would answer the kid's question. Phineas shrugs. "she said: kinda a… I suppose… I guess." Phineas says and runs his hand absentminded over Gibbs's work. He stops walking and looks up at Gibbs. "how can she not know if she is your girlfriend or not?" Phineas asks sincerely confused with a bewildered and puzzled look on his face. Gibbs has to agree with the kid but he is also silently amused by Jack's lack of clarification of their relationship. "that is a damn good question." Gibbs says and chuckles.

**Jacks office**

Jack is sitting in her office looking over Marine Corporal Laney Alimonte file. She can't get the picture of the case to fit. It knocks on the door and dr. Grace Confalone comes in.

"Hey, Dr. Confalone." Jack says and stands up to greet her guest. "thanks for coming."

"Thanks for the invite. It sounds like a very interesting case."

"oh yeah, you can say that."

They walk over and Jack takes a seat behind her desk and dr. Grace Confalone sits down across from her. Jack notices Grace is looking at her new painting. Jack looks up at it too and can't hide the smile on her face by thinking of the night she got it and who gave it to her.

"new art decoration?"

"Yeah," Jack says and tries to focus back on her computer screen to start informing Grace more about the case at hand but the little yellow posted note that was attached to the painting is now attached to her computer screen. The smile on her face from looking at the note doesn't go unnoticed by Grace.

"a gift?" Grace asks and snaps Jack out of her haze of the note. Jack looks back up briefly at the painting.

"oh yeah," Jack says and tries to put her business face back on.

"from a special someone?" Grace asks with a knowing look.

"yes." Jack simply says. she is not going to deny it.

"a new development. I see. So you finally have a special someone you can talk to, who feels the say way as you do?" Grace asks referring to the last time they had a therapy session in Jack's office where Jack talked about feeling lonely.

"I know he reciprocates my feelings but talking… no." Jack says and that makes Grace very interested in the new development that has happened since her last session with Jack.

"so you and Gibbs are together but he still doesn't talk with you?" Jack shakes her head and looks a little sad about that and her facial expression confirms to dr. Grace how stubborn Gibbs is when it comes to open up. "so if he doesn't talk to you what are you two doing when you are together?" Grace asks. Jack looks at her with a puzzled look that says 'do you really want to know?' Grace realize how it sounded what she just said. "and I don't need intimate details." She adds.

Jack shrugs and leans back in her chair. "we have steaks, talk about cases, talk about the team, watch a movie, play poker, have a drink… work on his boat in his basement."

"ahhh I see. There it is… the change." Grace says and Jack look puzzled at her.

"Nothing has changed since…" Jack nods towards the picture. "he still doesn't open up to me. when Ziva returned and left again… he got upset with me for trying to talk with him about it."

"but he let you help him with his boat," Grace says, and Jack looks confused.

"yeah so…"

"for a forensic psychologist you are not very good at profiling those closest to you," Grace says with a smile. Jack just shrugs. Grace is probably right. She hasn't been able to profile Gibbs since she started at NCIS.

"Gibbs has some strange thing about those boats. I know he has named his previous once after his late wife and his daughter." Jack nods. she knew that too. "letting you help him with his boat project is a sign of trust. He is letting you into his most sacred part of his life." A small smile is shown on Jack's lips. "Embrace it, Jack. It is a small step towards deeper trust in you." Jack nods with a small smile. "he is stubborn. It will take time for you to get close to him and for him to trust. He has lost a lot of people in his life. I think he has become more aware of the danger of letting people get close because of the risk of losing them again."

Jack nods. She just needs to give him the time he needs, but at least they are taking small steps in the right direction and Jack now has Gibbs that she can confide in even if he doesn't always seem to confide in her. they hear Tim and Gibbs talking in the hallway and they get up to greet the two special agents.

**Jacks office**

Jack arrived early at the office this morning. The case and especially Lanie's reaction in the interrogation room yesterday has been bothering her all night. She gets into her office and drops her bag and her jacket. She sits down in her chair she has behind the door. she leans her head back and closes her eyes for e moment. It was amusing and interesting for her to see how hypnotism can make people suggestive to pretty much anything and that the theory of hypnum murder might not be so crazy after all. Seeing how Dr. Grave got Nick to write his heart out to Ellie in a letter and he gave her his knife… something he would never do was quite interesting. Especially how dr. Grace got Nick to talk about his feelings. Maybe Jack should try and get Gibbs hypnotized. Maybe that would get him to talk to her. The thought of Gibbs hypnotized amuses her a bit, but what Grace said yesterday about Gibbs letting Jack help with his boat is a big step in the right direction has been echoing in her head all night. Also, the question that kid Phineas asked her. "are you his girlfriend?" that word 'girlfriend' had been echoing in her head ever since. Yesterday as Gibbs had come to her office and they had walked together to the interrogation room, she had been severely distracted, and Gibbs had probably noticed right away, but e hadn't called her out on it. that is something she always has appreciated with Gibbs. He doesn't call her out on things. The only time she remembers he has ever called her out was when she left an active shooting crime scene and withheld information about her biological daughter. She is knocked out of her train of thoughts when it knocks on her door. The door is opened before she can open her eyes. She sees Gibbs looking into her office. He is about to close the door again when she announces her presence behind the door.

"right here, Gibbs." She says with a smile and tilts her head as he looks behind the door and sees her. He walks in and closes the door behind him. she gets up from her chair and greets him with a smile and a hug. As she hugs him, he gives her a quick peck on the cheek. That has become his way of saying good morning to her in her office. Bringing her a cup of coffee and giving her a quick peck on the cheek. The light touch of his lips on her cheek always gives her that fuzzy feeling of butterflies. She hasn't told him that because she thinks it makes her sound like a lovesick teenage girl. He has two cups of coffee in his hand and he hands her one of them. She takes a sip. He really knows by now how she likes her coffee. "thanks, Gibbs."

He grabs a lollipop and then as he is unwrapping it he is just looking at her with one of his characteristic smiles. Jack looks at him a little puzzled.

"you need something, Gibbs?" she asks wondering. "maybe…" he says with the lollipop in his mouth. He takes it out and adds. "kinda… I guess…" he adds and pops the candy back in his mouth. He has a smug grin on his face, and it is confusing Jack. Normally when he stops by her office with coffee for her, he leaves quickly after to meet up with his team but today he is staying, and it makes her wonder. Gibbs has unwrapped the lollipop and stuffs it in his mouth. "other than candy?" she adds when he still doesn't say anything and still just has that smug smile on his face.

"just a simple question." He says and takes the lollipop out of his mouth." okay." Jack says in anticipation and walks past him to her desk. she is expecting it to be about the case. "about the case?" she asks when he doesn't continue. "nope." He says. Jack has noticed the sneaky smile he has on his face. "then what? Spit it out all right." She says. The suspense is killing her.

"How can someone be in a relationship with someone if they are not sure they are in a relationship with someone?" Gibbs asks trying to quote his young new friend as precise as he recalls. Jack just looks utterly confused at him and thinks it might be some mind trick question.

"what?" she just simply asks.

"Phineas…" Gibbs says but that isn't clearing much up for Jack. "my new neighbors' son. You meet him the day before yesterday." Jack now recalls the young boy she meets at Gibbs's house.

"Yeah, I remember. Sweet kid." But jack stills don't understand Gibbs's cryptic initial question or where he is going with it. Gibbs is amused by Jack's confusion. "I spoke with the kid yesterday. He told me you had stopped by my house. Jack is starting to realize where he is going with his initial question. "the kid had asked you if we were together and he hadn't gotten much of an answer." Jack nods and looks down a little embarrassed that the kid would Tell Gibbs how she had answered the question. She recalls that she said the same kind of waving words as Gibbs just said when she asked him if he needed something. 'he knows.' She thinks. She looks up to meet his eyes when she feels the redness of embarrassment has disappeared again, or at least most of it.

"What did he tell you?" Jack asks.

"not much…" Gibb says and throws away the empty stick from the lollipop. "just that he had asked you if you and I were together and you had given him a very confusing waving answer…" Jack nods.

"what was I supposed to say?" Jack asks looking at Gibbs with an intense stare. "we haven't exactly talked about what this is, Gibbs." She says and walks around her desk to stand in front of him. he turns to face her. she is standing right in front of him invading his personal space. "what would you have said to him?" she asks looking straight into his eyes. He looks down. Clearly not comfortable being put on the spot.

"I… I don't know." He says and looks up to meet her eyes. Her soft dark brown eyes are looking straight at him. "I…" he looks down again and takes a step away from her and turns to look out the window so as not to face her. "I don't need to put a label on it." he turns around to face her again and he takes a moment to choose the right words. The words he thought about it is like they completely disappear in his mind the moment he sees how she is looking at him with so much sweet softness and care. "I just know that I care about you and I want to be with you. I don't care what we call it…" he says and looks down at the ground again the moment he sees the sweet smile on her face. she takes a step closer to him and invades his private space again. "we can call it the elephant in the room or girlfriend or whatever we want. It doesn't matter to me." she says, and she places her hand on his chest to get him to look at her. her dark brown eyes so soft and filled with love. He leans down and is just about to kiss her when it knocks on the door. she takes a step away from him to make some appropriate distance between them before she gives the come into the person at the door. Nick comes in.

"hey, boss. We got dr. Pershing in interrogation now." Nick informs without even look up from his paperwork. "how do you know I was here?" Gibbs asks. Nick looks up from his papers at Jack and Gibbs. Nick shrug. "I saw you came into the office with 2 cups of coffee. The only person you ever bring coffee is Sloane." Nick shrug. "Are you jealous Nick?" Jack asks with a teasing smile and takes a sip of her coffee. Nick doesn't look pleased with KJack teasing him back. she no longer seems to be bothered that he comments on her closeness with Gibbs. "I'll bring you a hot chocolate tomorrow Torres," Gibbs says and that makes Jack laugh. Nick just shoots her an annoyed look. Gibbs then grabs his coffee cup he placed on the desk earlier and walks past Nick.

"later, Jack." He says and leaves the office. "Torres!" He calls down the hall when Torres doesn't follow him right away. "coming, Gibbs…" Nick says and quickly closes the door and follows Gibbs.

**the street where Gibbs lives**

Jack drives down the street where Gibbs lives. She sees to her pleasant surprise that Gibbs is throwing a baseball with the young boy Phineas. When Gibbs sees her in her car, he just quickly waves at her before he throws the baseball back to Phineas.

"that is your girlfriend, right?" Phineas asks and throws the ball back to Gibbs. Gibbs chuckles by the sound of that. "yes, it was." Gibbs says. Jack has parked her car in the driveway of Gibbs's house and gets out of the car. She walks over to Gibbs and Phineas.

"hey." She says and stands in a safe distance as Gibbs throws the ball back to Phineas. "how did it go with Corporal Alimonte?" He asks as he continues throwing the ball with Phineas.

"great. Her discharge gets upgraded to general so she will receive the VA benefits so she can get the right help." Jack explains. a stray ball nearly hits Jack, but she reacts quickly and catches it… To great admiration from Gibbs and especially the young boy.

"Nice catch," Gibbs says with an impressed smile. "I know," Jack responds as she throws the ball over to Gibbs. Her response makes Gibbs slightly blush and he looks away from her with a smile on his face. he throws the ball back to Phineas. Phineas has been watching but he clearly didn't understand what they said. "Phineas." His mother calls out. "you gotta be careful."

"it was an accident mom," Phineas calls back to his mother defensive and then he looks over at Jack.

"I'm really sorry that I nearly hit you, miss…"

"It is all right, Phineas," Jack says.

"you want to throw?" he asks Jack.

"Nah… I'll let you kids play." She says with a teasing smile. She steps back on the sidewalk and thereby out of the way of any potential stray balls from Phineas. They continue for a little while. Jack notices Phineas' mother who is standing on the porch watching her son play. It must be any mother's dream when she is moving to a new neighborhood and then having a neighbor who wants to hang out with her kid.

"Okay, Phineas how about we stop for the day and continue another day?" Gibbs asks and takes off his glove. Phineas nods and takes off his glove too and walks over to Gibbs to hand the glove to him. Gibbs shakes his head.

"nope. Keep it. it is yours." Gibbs says and hands the ball to him. "thank you, Jethro Gibbs." The young boy shakes Gibbs's hand. Then he looks down at the ground a little shy. Gibbs and Jack can tell he wants to say something.

"you want to say something, kid?" Gibbs asks.

"I just have a question but I don't mean to be rude."

"you warned me. it is fine. Ask."

"it is not for your, Jethro Gibbs," Phineas says and looks over at Jack.

"okay. Go ahead." Jack says waiting for the young boy to ask whatever question he has.

"you told me yesterday your name is Jack. But… isn't that kind of a guy's name?" he asks not sure of whether he is asking the wrong question now. Gibbs and Jack look at each other with a smile.

"yes you are right Phineas Jack is a guy's name. it is short for Jacqueline. My actual name is Jacqueline."

"so… why do you call yourself a guys name?" he asks. He now sounds a bit more confident about his questions.

"because I work in a world with a lot of guys. So, I am just one of the guys with a guy's name."

"Are you also a policeman?" Phineas asks excitedly. "I saw Jethro Gibbs's badge and gun yesterday.

"well, we are actually federal agents." Gibbs clarifies and takes out his ide to show the young boy. Phineas' eyes nearly pop out of his head when he sees Gibbs's NCIS id. "cool." The young boy exclaims. "you are FBI?"

Gibbs and Sloane look at each other with a smile. Jack knows how much it bothers Gibbs every time some civilian asks him if he is FBI whenever they are out on a case and they identify themselves as federal agents and civilians immediately assume they are from the FBI. "no kid. We are NCIS." Gibbs clarifies.

"What is that?" Phineas asks bewildered.

"It is like military police," Jack explains.

"so, you are military AND police at the same time?" the boy looks really impressed now. "that is so cool." The young boy's mother, Sarah comes over to them.

"mom they are military police agents," Phineas tells his mom and he can't hide his excitement.

"wow…" his mother simply says not sounding nearly as impressed and fascinated about her new neighbors' occupation as her son. She touches her sons her. "Phineas dinner is ready could you go wash your hands and go set the table?" she asks.

"Yeah, sure mom." Phineas says. "it was fun playing with you Jethro Gibbs and thank you for the glove. Can we play again another time?" the young boy asks.

"sure kid. Go do as your mom says." Gibbs says. the boy seems really excited.

"Okay." He says and runs into the house. once Phineas is inside the house Sarah turns to Jack and Gibbs.

"thank you, sir, so much for being so great to him."

"he is a sweet kid," Gibbs says. Sarah looks back towards the house. "yes, he is. He has been talking a lot about you just since yesterday, but I am sorry if he has been too much. He gets really excited, but he shouldn't invade your privacy and asks personal questions."

"It is alright. He is a kid. They ask questions. it is not a problem." Gibbs says completely understanding.

"Yeah. But please let me know if he is being too much."

Gibbs nods. Sarah walks back towards the house and Gibbs and Jack start heading towards Gibbs's house. Gibbs places a hand on her lower back as they walk up the driveway.

"he makes you look younger," Jack whisper as they walk. Gibbs looks confused at her. "playing with him it makes you look younger." Jack teases.

"hmm…" Gibbs just simply growls. He is well aware of the age difference between him and Jack and her bringing up his age isn't something he normally likes, but he would be lying if he denied that playing with the kid did make him feel a bit younger.

"Jethro Gibbs." They stop and turn around and sees Phineas come running out of the house and crossing the street without even looking for cars.

"kid you can't cross the street without looking out for cars," Gibbs says almost sounding like a father.

"ups…" Phineas says a little embarrassed. Jack starts smiling when she notices Phineas is holding utensils in his hand. He was clearly in the middle of setting the table as his mother asked him to do when he thought of something.

"what do you need kid?" Gibbs asks also amused by Phineas holding the utensils.

"did you ever figure out the answer?" he asks and then looks over at Jack and then back to Gibbs. Gibbs looks at Jack with a smile before he turns back to Phineas.

"no, I didn't actually."

"I really don't understand it," he says clearly confused.

"me either kid. You probably will someday." Gibb says and places a hand on his head. "now you go in and do as your mom told you okay?" Gibbs says. The young boy nods. "okay." He runs back across the street. Gibbs now notice he ran out in his socks without shoes.

"and put some shoes on, kid."

"Sorry, Jethro Gibbs." The boy yells as he runs back into his house. Gibbs and Jack are laughing at the young boy and then they walk into Gibbs's house.

Once inside Jack asks. "what question?" Gibbs just looks at her and smiles as he takes off his green jacket and hangs it up and then he walks into the Livingroom. Jack follows him. a little irritated that he is not going to tell her.

"Gibbs… come on. Tell me." she says. it amuses him that she gets so easily obsessed with withheld information.

"you were both looking at me when he asked that question. It has something to do with me, doesn't it?"

"It was nothing, Jack," Gibs calls out from the kitchen as he is grabbing a beer for both of them and then reenter the living room.

"I thought you said you brought food?" he says and places the beers on the table.

"I did. It is in the car. And I am not going to get it before you tell me what the question was about." He walks over to her and kisses her. "not going to happen." He says against her lips and then walks to the door. "did you just pickpocket my car keys?" she calls out. She hears the front door opens and she can hear the sound of her car being remotely unlocked. The sound of the door being opened and then closed again and the sound of the car being remotely locked again. She is a little amazed at how he did that but at the same time also a bit frustrated that he won't tell her. she knows he is just messing with her head and is infuriating how easily he can mess with her head. He comes back in with a brown paper bag in his band and place it on the table and starts taking out the take-out food-containers. He sits down and opens the two beers. He then looks up at her. she is just standing there with her arms crossed over her chest staring at him.

"your food is getting cold." He announces and takes a bit of his own food. He signs in defeat and sits down at the table. He is sitting at the end of the table and she is sitting on the long side.

"you really aren't going to tell me, are you?" she asks and opens her own food container and takes out the fork.

"Not much to tell." He says and stuffs some food in his mouth.

"what was the question?" she asks again and stuffs some rice noodles in her mouth.

"he asked me how you could not know whether we are together or not?" then Gibbs takes a sip of his beer.

"because it is difficult to be clear on anything when I am with a man who is so damn stubborn and infuriating because he never says a damn thing about how he feels," Jack says and takes a sip of her beer. Gibbs is just looking surprised at her. he didn't expect her to throw it back at him.

"It is that big of a deal for you?" he asks, sincere. That surprises Jack. How sincere he sounds. She looks down not able to look into his sweet, kind shining blue eyes.

"maybe… I mean… I don't know…" Jack looks up and sees the amused smile on his face and it makes her laugh and Gibbs starts laughing too. "come on Gibbs…" she says and hits his arm. "it wasn't a problem for me until the kid asked me wether, we are together or not. We never put it into words what we are. What this is."

"does it matter?" he asks. The seriousness in his voice and the way he afterword places his hand on hers surprises her and when she looks into his eyes all she sees is general sweet love.

"no, I guess not…" is all she says, and she leans over and kisses him.

"to me… it doesn't matter what we call it or who knows about it or what they are saying about it…" as he speaks he is looking straight into those brown soft sweet eyes that he so often over the past 2 years has gotten lost in. they can make him go soft in a way he hasn't felt since Shannon. "All that matters to me… is how we feel about it." he gives her another quick peck on the lips but she deeps the kiss and it is so filled with love and all the feelings he has for her that he can't put into words. "you are right…" she says as they break the kiss. "It doesn't matter what we call it." he agrees with her by kissing her again.


	17. 1708 - a parent

**post-1708 - musical chairs**

**Note: this is a post-episode scene about Jack and Faith. My previous chapter about Faith is chapter 8.**

After the concert, Gibbs and Sloane say their goodbyes to the rest of the group and Gibbs walks Jack to her car. Jack is unusually quiet tonight.

"you are okay Jack?" Gibbs asks once they get to her car.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She says but it doesn't convince Gibbs.

"you want to come over? Have a glass of bourbon?" he offers. It is Gibbs's classical way of offering comfort. Jack just smiles and nods. she really needs her friend. He hasn't been around the last few days when she needed him so she could really use some Gibbs-comfort now. They get into their own cars and Jack drives after Gibbs to his house.

Gibbs house

Gibbs walks into his house and straight up and gets changed into a comfortable pair of jeans and a marine-hoodie. Shortly after he has changed he hears the front door opens and closes. He walks down the stairs and into the living room, but Jack isn't there as he was expecting. He then hears some noise coming from the basement so he walks down there. Jack has already found the bottle of bourbon that she knows where he keeps. He walks down the stairs to her and finds two glasses. One has some nails and screws in it that he empties out on the table and let her pour the liquor into. They both take a sip of their drinks before any of them speaks.

"so what happened today, Jack?" Gibbs asks.

"you already know," Jack says.

"yeah but I want to hear it from you. what is on your mind? Your daughter asked to meet you and it was to ask you to fill out some medical forms."

"yeah Faith could be sick and she won't let me help," Jack says. she cant hide her worry for her estranged daughter.

"I get it, Jack. You are worried, but. You where the one who gave her up for adoption."

"yeah but I also gave her my contact information so she could contact me if she wanted to."

"and she did. She contacted you and asked for your help with what she wants your help with."

"but…" she is clearly frustrated with Gibbs not taking her side 100%. Just like Duckey didn't take her side earlier either. Jack walks around in the basement in frustration.

"Jack," Gibbs says to get Jack to look at him again. she stops walking around and looks over at him. "I was angry with Ziva when she came back and I found out that she had been dealing with Sahar on her own instead of coming to me… I was upset that she didn't trust me, but…" he takes a sip of his glass before he continues. "I realized it wasn't about her not trusting me… she is independent. She didn't want me to be worried about her. I guess it is the same with Faith. You need to let her deal with whatever it is she is dealing with, on her own. You can't fix your kid's problems for her. you need to let them deal with it themself and then hope they will come and ask for help when they need it."

Jack walks closer to Gibbs. She takes a sip of her glass before she places it on the table. Then she walks over and stands right in front of Gibbs and looks straight into his blue eyes.

"I really hate when you are right Gibbs," Jack says. it just makes Gibbs chuckle.

"she will come to you when she needs you. That is what kids do." Gibbs says. Jack nods. they then start working on Gibbs boat. Gibbs is standing on the right side of Jack. He notices she keeps sneaking little glimpses at him.

"what jack?" he asks after he has caught her a few times.

"What happened to your eye?" she finally asks.

"walked into a door." he just answers. He is trying to sound convincing but she is clearly not buying it.

"come on Gibbs. You are a terrible liar."

Gibbs looks into her eyes with a pleading look that asks her to please let it go. She understands what he is saying and turns back to focus on the boat.

**Note: I noticed by the end of this episode that Gibs had an unexplained wound over his left eye. In episode 1701-1702 when he was shot at in his basement he was wounded over the other eye. We never got an explanation. It will probably come… I HOPE.**


	18. 1710 it is not about who is feeling what

**Note: this was just an idea I thought about after watching last night's episode. I noticed the one scene between Gibbs and Jack where Gibbs says in a very harsh tone "it is not about who is feeling what, Jack." That gave me this idea. Please let me know what you think and ENJOY.**

Gibbs went upstairs to see what Phineas wanted. He mostly just wanted the reassurance that Gibbs was there. He missed his mom. He was confused. No, wonder. He had no clue what had happened to his mom or what his mom had done. Gibbs stayed with him for about an hour before Phineas fell asleep.

After Phineas finally fell asleep Gibbs slowly walked downstairs trying not to wake Phineas with too much noise. Downstairs Gibbs was expecting to find Ziva, but she had left. She had always had a habit of sneaking around silently in the shadows. After all, that was what Eli David had trained her to do as an assassin. Gibbs drops down on his couch and takes out his phone. He got a text from Jack. She is asking how Phineas is doing? Gibbs doesn't really know how to answer it, so he texts her and asks her to come over.

Gibbs wakes up by the sound of the front door opening and then closing again. he sits up quickly. He has his weapon drawn until he sees Jack walks around the corner from the hallway into the living room.

"wow, easy. You asked me to come," she says with her hands up in defense. He drops his weapon on the coffee table again.

"right. Thanks for coming, Jack." He says and sits up and puts his feet on the floor.

"how is Phineas?" she asks looking around to see if he is somewhere.

"he is upstairs. Finally, asleep. He is confused and scared. I think he knows something happened." Gibbs says. He sounds so worried. Jack sits down in the armchair. It is unusual for her to keep so much distance between them. Normally she is snuggled up close to him on the couch whenever she comes over.

"Everything okay, Jack?" Gibbs asks concerned.

"Yeah," Jack says a little cold. Gibbs notice she hasn't taken off her jacket, which she normally does before she even enters the living room.

"Phineas is asleep. So, what do you need from me?" she asks and looks at him with a serious look. She has a serious businesslike look in her eyes. not her usual sweet sparkle of joy.

"nothing." He says. Confused about the nature of her question. Normally she doesn't need a reason to come over to his place.

"So why did you ask me to come over if you don't need anything from me?" she asks cold.

"what the hell is going on Jack?" Gibbs asks irritated now. He doesn't understand why she seems to be so upset with him. "when did you start to need a reason to come over?"

"you must have a reason for why you asked me over half past midnight." She says back in the same irritated voice.

Gibbs looks down at his hands for a moment. "I needed you to come over." He admits. "I just wanted to spend some time with you." he looks over at her. so many emotions in his eyes. she feels bad that she was being hard on him. she knows he only shows his vulnerability when he really can't hide it. Jack knows that this case with Ziva most has brought up many new emotions and the fact that it brought in Phineas too, most have hurt Gibbs even more. Jack gets up from the chair. Gibbs follows her with his eyes. she doesn't say a word. She walks to the basement and after a moment he decides to follow her. he walks down the stairs to the basement where she has found his bottle of bourbon. She is holding it up for him.

"tell me what is going on." She says and hands him the bottle. He finds to glass jaws and empties the content out on the table and pours a glass for each. She takes the glass he offers and takes a sip before she leans against the table.

"tell me what is going on." She says.

"you first." He says and takes a sip. She looks confused at him. "you didn't answer my question earlier." He insists. At first, she thinks he is joking but then she realizes there is no sparkle in his eyes which he normally has when he is messing with her.

"what question? She asks.

"since when did you need a reason to come over?" he asks and takes a sip of his bourbon.

"are you serious?" she asks. He nods. he is dead serious.

"since Ziva came back into your life," Jack says. Gibbs doesn't really know what to say. He is just chuckling and shakes his head in disbelieve.

"come on Jack."

"no Gibbs." Jack says persistently. "every time… Ziva comes back into your life, you shot everyone else out. You don't think about the risk you are putting yourself, your career and your team in."

"excuse me for being worried about Ziva and want to help Ziva. She was like a daughter to me. I have a responsibility to her."

"no, you don't." Jack cuts him off. "she is not a member of your team anymore. When she has legal trouble, she should go to the appropriate authorities, not have you and NCIS run a black ops manhunt."

"you didn't seem to have a problem with black ops manhunts when we were hunting for Nigel Hakim," Gibbs shouts back at her. Jack is shocked that he would bring that up. It is like a blow to her stomach hearing from him.

"wow. I didn't expect that from you, Gibbs."

"I expected a bit more from you to Jack," Gibbs says cold. Jack looks down at her hands for a moment to figure out what to say next.

"listen, Gibbs," Jack says and looks up again to meet his blue eyes. they are normally so calm and sweet but tonight they are filled with some much anger when he is looking at her.

"I know Ziva means the world to you and I know that you feel guilty that you didn't go looking for her back when it was announced she was dead."

"I should have known better," Gibbs says more to himself than to Jack.

"but your guilt for not helping Ziva back then should not put you on a suicide mission to make it up to her. I don't know Ziva that well, but I know she wouldn't want you to do that."

"I don't have a death wish, Jack," Gibbs says angrily.

"I don't think you do but I think your guilt towards Ziva and for what has happened to Ziva over the past few years and what Ziva has lost affects you way more then you want to show."

"McGee didn't come looking for either. He is not on a suicide mission, Jack."

"he doesn't know what it feels like to lose a child. You do."

"Tali is not dead. She is safe with Tony."

"but Ziva can't see her. you know that the sooner this is over and the threat to Ziva's life is neutralized the sooner she can be reunited with her daughter. Something that you…"

"STOP Jack." Gibbs yells. "don't say that." He speaks in a tone and looks so angry that it scares her.

"Gibbs… I didn't mean that." She says apologetic and tries to walk closer to him, but he holds his hands up to tell her to stay away from him.

"what do you want Jack?" Gibbs yells after a few moments of silence.

"I want you to not shot everyone who loves you out… you have a lot of people in your life who love you but right now you are drowning yourself in guilt over Ziva and I think you are going to do the same over Phineas."

"Yeah, and I have every reason to. I am the reason for all of this. none of this would have happened if I hadn't asked Ziva to take that shot from up there…" Gibbs points to the top of the stairs where Ziva stood the night she killed her brother Ari. "13 years ago. "I told Ziva to prove her loyalty to me. she did and it started all of this. I have questioned her loyalty several times but she never…. Not even once… questioned my loyalty and trust in her." Gibbs is so filled with emotions. He is angry bot at Jack, at himself and in someway at just everyone and the world and at the same time he is so filled with guilt over not helping Ziva but just believing she was dead 4 years ago. He takes a moment to compose his emotions before he can look at Jack again.

"when McGee and I were held hostage in Paraguay… everyone thought we were dead… Ziva came to sound America… she spent months looking for us. She never gave up. The rescue helicopter beat her to us by an hour." Gibbs looks down at the glass he has in his hands. "she never gave up hope on me and McGee… I gave up on her." he looks up for a moment to meet Jack's soft dark eyes. "Don't believe what you're told. Double check. That is rule nr 6." Gibbs says and looks down at his glass. "my damn rule." He yells out loud before the turns around and throws his glass at the wall in anger. Jack is shocked but quickly walks over and wraps her arms around him from behind to calm him down.

"Gibbs…"she just simply says. she can feel he is calming down by the feeling of her arms around him.

"she is angry with me."

"you are angry with yourself." Jack corrects.

"I should be. Tali hasn't had a mother for 4 years and now Phin… he is growing up without one too."

Jack leans her head against his back. All she can do right now is just being there for him.

"Jethro Gibbs?" they hear Phineas' voice and Gibbs and Jack turn around to see he is standing at the top of the stairs.

"hey, Phin… you need something?" Gibbs asks in a calm fatherly voice.

"I didn't mean to interrupt…"

"It is okay," Gibbs says and walks up the stairs to Phineas. Gibbs places a hand on Phineas' head.

"I would just ask if I could get a glass of water?" Phineas asks almost apologetic.

"sure," Gibbs says and walks into the kitchen with Phineas. While Gibbs is providing Phineas with the requested glass of water Jack walks up the stairs and she is just standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, observing the interaction between Gibbs and Phineas.

"am I going to school tomorrow, Jethro Gibbs?" Phineas asks as he receives the glass from Gibbs. "my mom gets mad if I don't go to school."

Gibbs looks over at Jack hoping to find an answer in her expression. Telling him what to say or do but there is nothing. She has as little idea of what to say to the boy as Gibbs does. Phineas empties his glass and places it on the table next to the sink.

"thank you, Jethro Gibbs." He says and walks over past Jack to go back up to the bed, but he stops in the doorway next to Jack and looks back at Gibbs and then at Jack.

"Are you mad at me, Jethro Gibbs?" Phineas asks.

"why would you think that, Phineas?

"my mom keeps telling me not to ask you for help with things. Like yesterday when I asked you if you could fix my police car."

"I don't mind you asking me for help, Phin. It is never a bad thing or a shame to ask for help." Gibbs says. Phineas nods.

"and I fixed your police car by the way," Gibbs says and it brings out a smile on the boy's face.

"thank you. I just haven't figured out to put it on the top of the tree yet."

how about I help you that tomorrow?" Gibbs asks. The boy nods with a big wide smile.

"thank you, Jethro Gibbs," Phineas says with a smile. Gibbs notices how his smile quickly changes again to sadness.

"miss Agent Jack?" Phineas asks. He is clearly not sure how to address Jack. It amuses Jack and Gibbs.

"Just Jack. Phineas. It will be fine." Jack says with a smile and the young boy nods. "hmmm… can… I ask you a question?"

"sure," Jack says with a smile.

"I always give my mom a hug before bed. Can I give you a good night's hug?" he asks not sure if he is overstepping any lines here. Jack and Gibbs look at each other. Guilt spread all over Gibbs's face.

"sure Phineas," Jack says and takes Phineas in for a motherly hug.

"goodnight," Phineas says when the hug ends and then he walks back upstairs to go to bed. Jack walks over to Gibbs. He is leaning against the kitchen counter.

"I have no idea how to tell him the truth," Gibbs admits honestly.

"I can help you," Jack says. Gibbs looks up at Jack. His eyes are asking her whether she is sure she wants to do it. "ill stay for the night and ill be here in the morning and we can do it together. In that way, he has someone that he trusts to support him." Jack says. Gibbs nods.

"yeah, the man who killed his mother."

"he doesn't need to know that part," Jack says. Gibbs nods. He then takes Jack into a big hug and places a kiss on her head.

"thank you, Jack."


	19. 1710 - Phineas - christmas

**Note: I thought there was a severe lack of Christmas spirit and Christmas joy in the "Christmas episode" of season 17. Don't get me wrong; I loved the story of Ziva and Phineas, but Not much Christmas joy.**

**This chapter is an extended, updated version(updated march 14th 2020)**

**Bullpen**

Gibbs enters the office with his usual coffee cup in his hand. He walks over to his desk and drops his weapon in his desk draw. He notices that the bullpen is unusually crowded. Besides, his three field agents, Jack, Jimmy, Kasie, and Ducky, are all in the bullpen.

"Morning, boss." McGee greets. Gibbs takes a seat behind his desk. He now notices everyone is looking at him.

"you want to say something?" he says, looking around at everyone.

"how is Phineas?" Ellie asks as the first.

"he is in school. He is confused and sad, and he doesn't understand it, and he misses his mom.

"that is to be expected," Ducky says.

"is he in school?" Torres asks.

"Shouldn't he have the day off? He just lost his only parent." Ellie says. Gibbs can feel the blame on him from the two young agents.

"he wanted to go to school. He said his mom would be upset if he didn't go to school." Gibbs says.

"loyal to his mother, even after her passing." Ducky states.

"his mother was a Mossad assassin splinter group leader." Torres says in disbelieve to Ducky. "she used him in an assignation plan." Torres says.

"yes, Nick. She is his mother. That is what he knows. He knows she is his mother, and she loved him very much, and regardless of what we know about her. To him, she is a loving, caring mother. And the bond between mother and child is incredibly strong." Jack explains. Tim, Jimmy, and Gibbs, who are all fathers, nod in agreement with Jack. There is a moment of silence before McGee speaks again.

"so boss, we have been talking about Christmas… we were thinking maybe celebrate Christmas together for Phineas." Tim explains.

"yeah, so he gets a happy Christmas despite all of this," Ellie adds.

Gibbs takes a moment to think, then he nods.

"Yeah, sounds good."

"is he staying at your place?" Ducky asks.

"yes, for now. Child protected service is in no rush over the holidays." Gibbs explains.

"poor kid." Jimmy says. "losing his mom right before Christmas."

"she was an assassin. Trying to kill Ziva." Torres explains in a very harsh tone.

"yeah, but she was also a mother, Torres. I don't care about her. I care about the kid who has lost his mother right before Christmas." Tim says to Torres. "I lost my father right before Christmas. The first Christmas isn't easy."

"your father was a decorated admiral. His mother was an assassin." Torres says.

"she is still his mother," Ellie says in a harsh tone to Torres and shoots him a look that tells him to stop the argument. The argument between the agents ends when Gibbs's phone rings and they rush out to investigate a new case.

**Gibbs house December 24**

Gibbs is in the kitchen preparing the Christmas food. Phineas is setting the table in the living room. Christmas music is playing in the living room. It is Phineas who has decided the Christmas music, which is a bit too modern for Gibbs's taste, but he is letting Phineas decide. Phineas sounds happy as he is singing along on rocking around the Christmas tree while he is setting the table. It knocks on the door, and soon after, a pair of twins comes running into the living room. They don't seem to notice Phineas. The young girl immediately runs over to Gibbs, who has entered from the kitchen while the young boy is stunned by the unfamiliar boy in the Gibbs house, but he quickly recovers from the surprise and follows his sister, who is receiving a big hug from Gibbs. Soon after agent McGee, that Phineas has already met is entering the room as he is pushing a woman in a wheelchair.

"Merry Christmas Phineas." Agent McGee greets. "this is my wife, Delilah, and that, over there who is currently attacking Gibbs, is our kids Johnny and Morgan."

"Nice to meet you." Phineas politely greets as he shakes hands with Delilah.

"Merry Christmas, Phineas." Delilah greets and wheels further into the living room. "hey Johnny… Morgan takes your shoes off and hands your jackets to dad." Delilah orders. The twins seem too occupied by chatting with Gibbs to listen to their mom.

"John and Morgan McGee Listen." Delilah says in a measured tone, and Johnny and Morgan immediately turn their attention to their mom. "hand your jackets to dad and take off your shoes. You are dragging snow all over the living room. I'm sure Gibbs isn't happy about that." Delilah says. She is looking directly at her kids while avoiding Gibbs nonchalant shrug with his shoulder as Delilah is telling her kids that he will be unhappy. Gibbs has a soft spot for the McGee twins; he can't get mad at them, not even when they are dragging mud and snow into the living room. Morgan and Johnny do as the mom tells them, and while Tim is helping the twins out of their jackets and winter boots, Delilah wheels over and greets Gibbs.

"Merry Christmas, Gibbs. Thanks for inviting us." Delilah says, and Gibbs leans down and places a greeting kiss on Delilah's cheek.

"sure. It is nice to get to see you and the twins." Gibbs says. They both know why Gibbs is hosting this little Christmas team gathering, but it remains unspoken.

"you need help with anything, boss?" Tim asks once he reenters the living room with his twins.

"Yeah, if you don't mind, I could use a hand," Gibbs says. "Phin, are you done setting the table?"

"almost," Phineas says. "Jethro Gibbs… what kind of glasses should I put on for them and me?" he asks and looks over at Morgan and Johnny.

"I'm Morgan. This is Johnny." Morgan says. She is outspoken of the twin while Johnny is hiding behind his father's leg.

"Hey, I'm Phineas," Phineas says to Morgan.

"My daddy is an agent," Morgan says proudly and looks up at Tim.

"I know that. You want to see something?" Phineas asks. Morgan looks suspicious of the unfamiliar boy.

"look." Phineas points to the top of the decorated Christmas tree in the corner of the living room. Phineas' police car is sitting nicely on the top of the tree.

"police," Johnny exclaims once he sees the police car.

"Yeah, I put it up there because Jethro Gibbs and agent McGee are sorts of like the police, but… just way cooler," Phineas explains with a proud smile on his face at the twins and then to Tim.

"that is so cool, Phineas," McGee says and looks down at Morgan. She seems very impressed at her dad, but once she looks over at Phineas, she looks a bit more suspicious. She needs some time to get used to the new boy at the Gibbs-house.

"Phin, I got some glasses in the kitchen if you will go and get them?" Gibbs says.

"I got it, Phin," McGee says and takes over the duty of setting the table for Phineas, so he is free to play with the twins.

Phineas walks over to the Christmas tree together with Morgan and Johnny to examine the decorated tree further while Tim helps Gibbs in the kitchen. Delila is just observing the kids from a distance. She likes this new boy in the Gibbs house. After McGee came home and told her about this new neighbor kid of Gibbs, she found it a bit odd, but now that she has met Phineas, she can see why Tim likes the kid. Shortly after, there is a quick knock on the door, and Jack enters.

"Merry Christmas," Jack calls out as she enters the house and takes off her jacket before she enters the room where Johnny McGee quickly greets her. He has become very fond of Jack. Since Johnny was a baby, Johnny has liked her blonde hair. He stumbles over and hugs Jack before he runs back to his sister and Phineas. Delilah comes across and greets Jack.

"Merry Christmas, Jack," Delila says, and Jack leans down and hugs her.

"Merry Christmas."

Jack takes a seat and starts chatting with Delila while they are watching the kids. Jack notices how Phineas seems to be enjoying himself with the twins, but once in a while, he looks out the living room window. She knows he is looking over at his house, where he lived with his mom until yesterday, soon after Bishop and Torres join the party.

"Merry Christmas, everyone Bishop calls out the moment she steps into the living room, followed by Torres. Ellie takes ground to greet everyone before she ends up in the corner where the kids are playing.

"mind if I join in?" Ellie asks Phineas and the twins.

"you like police cars?" Phineas asks. He is playing with his toy police cars with the twins, although it seems like Johnny is busier stuffing his favorite stuffed animal in his mouth.

"who doesn't?" Ellie asks with a smile and sits down to play with the kids. Johnny quickly climbs onto Ellie to snuggle into her. He is always very cuddly with Ellie and Jack.

"it seems like Johnny already is a lady's man?" Torres jokes from where he has taken a seat to chat with Jack and Delilah."

"you need him to teach you some tricks, Torres?" Jack jokes with a teasing smile.

"I got my tricks, and they work just fine, and I don't take advice from a toddler."

"Are you sure?" Delilah asks, joining in on the joke, which amuses Jack. "it seems like he is doing better with the ladies then you are." Both Delilah, Jack, and Ellie start laughing while Torres no longer find this conversation amusing, he gets up and walks to the kitchen to join McGee and Gibbs.

Soon after, Jimmy, Breena, and little Victoria, along with Duckey, arrive at the Gibbs-house. Victoria quickly joins in on playing with Phineas, Ellie, and the twins while Jimmy joins McGee, Torres, and Gibbs in the kitchen, and Breena sits down to chat with Jack and Delilah together with Ducky. Shortly after, Kasie is joining the party. Once she enters the living room, she is shocked at the sight of Gibbs's old-school tv in the corner of the room. Kasie's reaction amuses everyone else who is well aware of Gibbs's interior design.

And at last, Ziva joins the party. She had gone out to pick up some traditional Christmas candy and a Christmas present for the kids. The team had agreed on getting a Christmas present for each kid at the party. Once the team is gathered, everyone takes a seat at the dinner table. McGee, Jimmy, and Torres help out Gibbs with the food while Jack helps out Delilah getting the twins to the table.

The food gets on the table, and the mood is light and jolly. Phineas is chatting with McGee and Delilah about online gaming while Torres is mostly making fun of them and especially of McGee, whom Torres calls a geek. Kasie is having a pleasant, friendly conversation with Breena and Ducky, while Jimmy is chatting with Ziva and Bishop. Jack is sitting at one end of the table while Gibbs is seated at the other end. Delilah is talking with Phineas about how she once worked on a case where she was hunting down a hacker who used a computer game. Phineas played this game and can enlighten Delilah on some details. Gibbs loves how Phineas seems relaxed and seems to be enjoying himself, especially with Delilah and McGee. While Delilah is chatting with Phineas, she is also trying to get Johnny to eat his mashed potatoes while Morgan is starting to get impatient and wants to leave the table and go and play. Jack looks over at Gibbs. She notices how relaxed he looks. Gibbs notice Jack is looking at him, and their eyes meet in a sweet moment. But their moment is quickly interrupted by Phineas, who is asking Gibbs if there are any more gravy. Gibbs gets up and walks to the kitchen to heat some more for Phineas. Jack sees a moment to sneak a private moment with Gibbs. Gibbs is standing in front of the stove. He is lost on his thoughts when he feels a hand on his lower back. A little sideways smile comes upon his face. He knows it is jack.

"How are you doing?" Jack asks, whispering. He can feel her warm breath on his cheek as she speaks.

Gibbs looks back at the door where there is a heartfelt chatter coming, and the loudest is Morgan complaining that her dad won't let her leave the table until her brother is done eating. It amuses both Jack and Gibbs, hearing how McGee is trying to rationalize with his two-year-old daughter before they turn back to the stove.

"Phineas seems to be okay considering everything," Gibbs says in a low voice.

"and what about you?" Jack asks. Gibbs looks over at her with narrowed eyes. He does that when he is trying to figure out the nature of her question.

"I'm fine. I haven't told Phin yet, though. I don't know how to."

"I can help you if you want me to." Jack offers and rubs her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine, Jack." He says a bit cold and no longer in a whispering tone and takes the pot off the stove. Jack then turns around and sees Ducky standing in the door, which explains the change in Gibbs's voice.

"my granddaughter is asking if there are any more of the potato chips?" Ducky asks once he has assessed whether it is safe to enter. Jack smiles at Ducky and grabs the bag of chips on the table.

"right here, Ducky," Jack says and pours the rest of the chips into the bowl Ducky is holding. Once the bowl is full, Ducky walks back into the living room with a knowing smile on his face.

"you do know, Ducky knows, right?" Jack whispers.

"know what?" Gibbs asks, confused.

Jack is getting tired of Gibbs and shoots him an irritated look.

"us."

"Jack." Gibbs just simply says and walks back into the living room with the gravy for Phineas. Jack is left alone in the kitchen for a moment. She can't figure out why Gibbs is so persistent in hiding their 'thing' or whatever it is. They are close friends and trust each other everyone on the team knows that so she can't figure out why he wants it to remain a very well-known secret. She is lost in her thoughts until Victoria enters the kitchen.

"miss Jack…"

Jack smiles and Victoria.

"you don't have to say, miss. Just Jack." Jack kneels in front of the little girl.

"can you help me get another fork I dropped mine on the floor?" Victoria asks politely.

"sure," Jack says and stands up and takes a fork from the drawer and walks back into the living room with Victoria. Victoria takes Jack's hand as they walk back into the living room.

"Phineas…" Torres says when there is a break in Delilah's conversation with Phineas. "did you know that you hurt agent McGee's feelings badly when you kicked his butt in that videogame a few weeks ago. He was complaining that you took his spot on the team." Torres says with a big teasing grin to McGee. Phineas looks shocked and embarrassed. Everyone has now turned their focus to Nick and Phineas. Nick has a big smile on his face while he is receiving very disapproving stares from both Gibbs, Jack, and Bishop.

"I'm sorry, Agent McGee." Phineas quickly says, feeling terrible.

"It is alright, Phineas, you didn't hurt my feelings," McGee says to Phineas and then turns to Torres.

"what are you talking about?" McGee asks, irritated.

"you were whining about how you used to be Gibbs guy when it came to tech. You even whined about some nickname you used to have." Torres says in a mocking tone, and it amuses Delilah too.

"Which one?" Ziva asks, amused. "he used to have quite a few from DiNozzo. Almost a new one every day."

"some nickname that Gibbs called him," Torres explains.

"elf-lord?" Gibbs asks, and it makes everyone else laugh.

"I didn't whine." McGee objects irritated, especially at Torres. "Yeah, Gibbs used to call me that when I was getting to tech in my explanations, but…" McGee explains to Torres. He doesn't like it when Torres is trying to humiliate him in front of Delilah. Not that she would care much about it anyway. Then McGee turns to Phineas and says out loud, "Phineas did a great job on that case."

"it was so awesome," Phineas says with a big smile.

"what did you do?" Ziva asks Phineas. Phineas starts telling Ziva in detail about how he got to play a videogame on the big screen in MTAC and how he worked together with Tim and Gibbs. It amuses everyone when Phineas reveals that his mother wasn't happy about it at first, but then Phineas had told her about all the awesomeness and how they got the bad guy, and then his mother hadn't gotten so mad. Phineas' talk about how cool it was to work with Agent McGee wasn't what Torres was planning on when he started teasing McGee, but it seems to lighten the mood for Phineas.

"boss, I just don't understand how you would know about Phineas playing videogames. You hate tech." McGee asks.

"I told him," Phineas explains.

"you told Gibbs about videogames?" McGee asks in disbelieve.

"Yeah, we talked about videogames the night before. I also showed him my favorite you-tubers gaming videos."

"Gibbs watched youtube?" Ellie asks. everyone seems surprised and amused by the thought of that while Phineas is dead serious about it."

"yes," Phineas says in a sincere tone.

"Gibbs and youtube… I thought that was two words I would never hear in the same sentence." Torres jokes, and everyone is amused even Gibbs has a smile on his face.

"someone who can get Gibbs to watch youtube… now that is a real miracle." Ziva says, and everyone starts laughing.

"so, Phineas, who do you play with?" Delilah asks.

"mostly just random players online."

"what about the other kids in your class?" Jack asks.

"Nah… I mean, I mostly play online by myself, but after I started playing baseball with some of the other boys from school, I started playing with one guy online too," Gibbs explains.

"you play baseball, kid?" Torres asks.

"yeah," Phineas says proudly. "Jethro Gibbs taught me how to play," Phineas explains with a proud smile to Gibbs.

"he taught me how to play baseball too," Ziva explains.

"really?" Phineas asks. Ziva nods.

"yeah," Ziva says.

"cool." Phineas says. "did you ever go to the batting field?" Phineas asks.

"Yeah, we did," Ziva says.

"cool. One-time, Jethro Gibbs came and picked me up from school, and then he took me there, and he taught me how to really hit hard and also how to hit a curveball, although those are difficult. It was right before I joined the team."

"it sounds like you had an excellent coach," Jack says with a smile to Phineas. He proudly nods while Jack receives a sweet shy smile from Gibbs. The smile between Gibbs and Jack doesn't go unnoticed by everyone else, but no one says anything.

Phineas nods. "yeah, I made it to the team." Phineas seems to happy and proud when he is talking about the things; he has done with Gibbs over the past few months.

After dinner, Gibbs suggests that they should all watch a Christmas movie together. Everyone likes that idea, and while Gibbs, with help from Jack Jimmy, Torres, and Bishop, starts cleaning up, Phineas talks with Kasie and Ziva about the volcano he made together with Gibbs that won first place at the science fair. Breena tells Victoria that she should put on her PJ before the movie starts, and McGee and Delilah decide to get the twins into their PJs too while the rest of the participants of the party starts cleaning the table. While Gibbs and Jack are in the kitchen doing the dishes, they can hear how Phineas talks about the volcano. At first, Gibbs hasn't been so sure about whether this was a good idea or not or if it would just bring sadness for Phineas but the sound of Phineas' excited voice telling Ziva, Kasie and Ducky about the science fair volcano and baseball. Gibbs looks over at Jack for a moment and meets her eyes, smiling at him. The smile on her face tells him that she hears it too. How happy Phineas is, and she is confirming to him that this was a good thing for Phineas. Phineas walks into the kitchen, and the moment between Gibbs and Jack is immediately interrupted when Phineas speaks.

"Jethro Gibbs," Phineas says. Gibbs stops cleaning the pan he was busy with and pays attention to Phineas.

"yes, Phin."

"Should I put on my PJ too? Like the other kids?" he asks.

"sure, that is a good idea," Gibbs says.

"I have a Christmas PJ that I always wear when my mom and I watch Christmas movies. Can I put that one on?" he asks a little shy. Phineas almost seems embarrassed about asking.

"sure, Phin. Go put it on." Gibbs says. Jack is just observing Gibbs's interaction with the boy.

"It is in my mom's house," Phineas says quiet and looks down.

"Why don't I go with you Phineas," Jack says and wipes her hands dry. Phineas looks up at Gibbs and then at Jack and then around to behind him where Bishop and Torres are now standing listening in on the conversation. Gibbs recognizes the embarrassed look on the boy's face. He doesn't like the idea of a woman going with him to change his clothing.

"don't worry, Phin. She respects personal business." Gibbs says with a hint to the day where his mother very explicitly told Gibbs about what kind of underwear she had packed for Phineas and Phineas got embarrassed about it. Phineas signs in relief while Jack looks confused at Gibbs and then at Phineas. "she will stay in the living room while you get changed in your room." Gibbs explains more to Jack than to Phineas while he is looking at Phineas, who starts smiling.

"Okay," Phineas says with a satisfied smile. Then Jack and Phineas walk to the front door to put on their Jackets and their shoes.

"where are they going, daddy?" Victoria asks as she walks down the stairs while securely holding her dad's hand. She is now wearing her light blue frozen PJ.

"What a beautiful PJ; you are wearing Victoria," Jack says, smiling at the little girl.

Victoria giggles. "it is queen Elsa from Olaf's frozen adventure. It is a Christmas movie." Victoria explains.

"It is so beautiful," Jack says and kneels in front of Victoria. She is shooting her stomach out so Jack better can see the picture on her shirt.

"It is lovely. Do you think I can have one too?" Jack asks.

"no." the little girl giggles and look up at her dad.

"It is only for little girls." Victoria giggles.

"oh, okay," Jack says, pretending to be disappointed. Jack is chatting with Victoria while Phineas is putting on his winter boots. Once Phineas is ready, Jack and Phineas walk across the street to his mother's house. Jack notices how Phineas takes a moment where he is controlling his emotions. Jack places a hand on his shoulder for reassurance before they walk in. Phineas waits for Jack to take a seat on the couch before he disappears into his room and closes the door for privacy. When Phineas comes back, Phineas is wearing a pair of grey sweatpants and a big hoodie. He is wearing the sweatpants and the hoodie over something else. His sweatpants seem very lumpy, and the hoodie makes him look much bigger.

"Phineas, it is okay if you want to walk to Gibbs's house in just your PJ," Jack says, trying to hide her amusement over the young boy. He is obviously a very shy boy.

"right," Phineas says and looks down. He now seems embarrassed about covering his PJ.

"Phineas," Jack says and takes a seat on the armrest of a chair. Phineas looks up to meet her eyes.

"Why are you covering your PJ?" Jack asks.

"I… I am older than Victoria and the twins," Phineas says. Jack isn't sure what his point is, so she let him continue. "I am a big boy, and I am wearing Christmas PJ."

"Phineas…" Jack says and stands up and walks over to him.

"There is nothing to be ashamed of. I'm sure it is a very nice PJ you have."

"it is a little kid PJ."

"what is on it?" Jack asks.

"Promise you won't laugh?" Phineas asks, embarrassed, and Jack nods. Phineas signs and then lift the big hoodie so Jack can get a glimpse of the picture printed on his shirt.

"is that Iron, man?" Jack asks excitedly. Phineas nods.

"I love marvel," Jack says, and Phineas breaks into a big smile.

"really?"

Jack nods. "yeah…" she says like it is the most logical response in the world.

"I love Iron Man. he is my favorite… along with Spiderman." Phineas explains as she starts walking to the front door of the house together.

"why Spiderman?" Jack asks as they start walking back to the party.

"because Spiderman lives with his aunt. I used to do that too. Live with my aunt." Phineas says as he locks up the door to his mom's house.

"what about you?" Phineas asks. "who is your favorite hero?"

Jack takes a moment to think about her answer.

"I would say, Steve Rogers," Jack says.

"why?" Phineas asks as they reenter the Gibbs house.

"because he is Army like me."

"that makes sense."

They walk back into the house.

"Should I take off my hoodie and sweatpants now?" Phineas asks quietly, almost whispering.

"if you want to."

"I think Gibbs is wearing his USMC hoodie, and I think I am going to wear my Army hoodie. We all just wear whatever comfy clothing we feel like tonight, Phineas."

Phineas nods and starts taking off his hoodie and the sweatpants while Jack is grabbing her army hoodie out of her bag. She puts it on, and then she looks over at Phineas. He seems very self-conscious in his red and yellow ironman PJ.

"you look great, Phineas," Jack says with a smile.

"can I ask you a question?" he asks as he looks at Jack's army hoodie.

"sure."

"were you a captain?" he asks with a hint of excited anticipation in his voice. It makes Jack smile.

"no. I was a lieutenant."

"is that like better?" he asks, not sure how to phrase his question. It amuses Jack a bit.

"no Captain is the next rank for a first lieutenant. If I had stayed in the army, I could have made it captain." Jack explains.

"cool." Phineas says. "so did you have a shield?" Phineas asks as they walk back into the living room. The question amuses Jack, and she can't hold in her laugher.

"no, I did not. I would have been super cool, though." Jack says.

"yeah," Phineas says.

"wow, Phineas, is that an Iron man, PJ?" McGee exclaims, and everyone looks over at Phineas. Phineas looks up at Jack. She places a reassuring hand on his shoulder and sends him a smile. It makes him feel less self-aware.

"that is so cool." Ellie joins in.

"superman," Johnny says and points to Phineas.

"no, honey… it is an iron man." Delilah corrects her little boy.

Phineas looks up at Jack with a big smile.

"you want to sit down here, Phineas?" Ellie asks. She is sitting on the floor, along with Torres and Kasie.

"sure," Phineas says now that he feels a lot more confident about his Pj. He walks over and sits down next to Ellie and Kasie.

"Hey, don't get handsy, dude," Torres says when Phineas takes his hands under the blanket that Ellie is wrapping over him. Phineas look confused at Torres.

"really, Torres?" Ellie says and wraps an arm around Phineas and pulls him to a sideways hug.

"what did I do?" Phineas asks confused, not sure what Nick would tell him, not get handsy.

"nothing Phineas. Don't pay attention to him." McGee says to Phineas and shots Torres a look saying: "really Torres?"

Everyone seems to be comfortably seated in front of the tv. Jack looks around in the living room, and then she hears a sound from the kitchen. She walks to the kitchen, where Gibbs is busy making two bowls of popcorn.

"Need a hand?" she asks as she looks at the kitchen table where it seems like a bag of popcorn exploded.

"not really," Gibbs says a little irritated about the amused smile on Jack's face. She is not taking no for an answer and joins in and helps him out.

Suddenly it knocks on the front door. Gibbs and Jack look confused at each other and then hurries into the living room where there are suddenly very quiet. In the doorway between the entrance and the living room is a tall, familiar man standing with a little girl with blonde curly hair next to him holding his hand.

"Merry Christmas, boss." Is all the man, says with a big smile to Gibbs. A big smile spreads on Gibbs's face.

"Merry Christmas DiNozzo," Gibbs whispers into the ear of his former senior field agent as he is embracing him in a big hug.

"Ima?" the two former co-workers hug are interrupted by little Talis voice. She is starring at Ziva, and now everyone else is looking at Ziva too. She has tears in her eyes. The former always so tough agent and former Mossad assassin now have tears in her eyes from seeing her little girl again.

"hey, Tali," Ziva says and stands up. She doesn't know what to do or say. Tali looks up at her dad for permission to go and hug her mom, and Tony just gives her a simple nod, and Tali runs to her mom's arms, and Ziva lifts her in a big hug.

"I love you, Tali," Ziva says in between kissing Tali on the face while tears are falling on her face.

"I love you, Ima," Tali says and hugs her mom. After a few moments where Ziva gets her tears of joy under control again, she hugs Tali tight while she looks over at Tony, who is still standing in the doorway—just looking at her. he isn't sure what to do. "Abba loves you too, Ima," Tali says and looks at her mom and then to her dad.

"I know that Tali," Ziva says as she looks over at Tony. It amuses Ziva that the first time she hears that Tony loves her said out in words it is by her daughter.

"I never said it though," Tony says with his always charming smile on his face and walks further into the living room where the rest of the NCIS-family is gathered.

"somethings remain unspoken of," Ziva says amused and wipes a tear off her face.

"you said you loved me, though," Tony says confident and takes a seat next to where Ziva sitting and next to McGee also.

"no, I didn't." Ziva protests and sits down with Tali on her lap.

"I said that you are so loved. I never said it was by me."

"oh really," Tony says. It amuses Tim how the constant argument about who is right between Ziva and Tony that has been going on since the day Ziva entered the NCIS office is continuing endlessly.

"what are you laughing at McGiggle?" Tony asks and turns to Tim.

"you two never stop," Tim says with a big smile.

"admit it you missed it," Tony says.

"kinda," Tim admits.

"I don't," Gibbs says as he walks in and places the bowl on the coffee table while Jack places the other bowl on the floor.

"It is good to see ya too, boss."

"not ya boss DiNozzo," Gibbs says and sits down. Tali jumps down from her mother's comfortable lap and runs over to Gibbs.

"GIIIIIBBBBSSSS," Tali yells as she runs to Gibbs. He catches her in a big hug.

"I missed you." the little girl says as Gibbs places her on his lap.

"I missed you too, Tali. You have grown so much since I last saw you."

"I eat my vegetables every day." The little girl says proudly.

"that is great. It is important to do that." Gibbs says, and Tali nods in agreement.

"are you, Jack?" Tali asks, looking over at Jack, who is sitting next to Gibbs.

"yes, I am. You must be Tali." Tali nods.

"It is nice to meet you, Tali," Jack says, polite.

"can I give you a hug?" Tali asks bluntly.

"sure," Jack says and receive a big hug from Tali while Tali remains seated on Gibbs's lap.

"are you uncle Gibbs's girlfriend?" Tali asks once she breaks the hug.

Everyone is suddenly paying attention very much to Jack, Gibbs, and Tali, and everyone is quiet.

"no," Jack says a little hesitant and look over at Gibbs. He is starring at DiNozzo with a very accusing death stare. "why would you think that?" Jack asks.

"because that was what grandpa said," Tali says casually with a shrug, and then she jumps down from Gibbs and walks back to her parents.

"Sorry, boss. You know Sr. he always gets ideas. He sees romance everywhere."

"yeah, like father like son," Gibbs says, noticing how Tony has been paying attention to how close Gibbs and Jack are sitting on the couch right now. It is just done to the lack of space on the overcrowded couch as it is to comfort. Tony makes his round to greet every member of the NCIS-family before he finally makes it to Jack. He isn't sure if it is safe to get near Gibbs after Talis's question to Jack.

"so you are the infamous Anthony DiNozzo?" Jack asks as she shakes Tony's hand.

"the one and only," Tony says with a proud smile.

"expect for Sr," Tim says with a big teasing smile.

"Thanks for the reminder Mcbuzz-kill."

"wow, I almost missed the nicknaming, Tony."

Tony retakes his seat next to Ziva and Tali. Gibbs wraps an arm around Jack, and she leans closer to him. Tony looks over at Gibbs with a bewildered look.

"what DiNozzo?" Gibbs asks as he grabs the remote to the tv to start to the movie.

"Nothing, boss," Tony says and leans back on the couch and wraps an arm around Ziva. She snuggles comfortably into him with Tali relaxing on her lap.

"Abba, when can I play with my cousins?" Tali asks.

"well…" tony says, looking over at Johnny, who is snuggled upon his mother's lap.

"It is late, Tali. I think the Mc-Twins are out for the day. How about we find another day where you can play with them?" Tony asks. Tali nods. Based on her facial expression, she doesn't agree with her father's idea, but she seems to accept it disapprovingly.

"Mc-Twins? Really tony?" McGee asks and receives a classing DiNozzo smile in return.

Phineas comes back into the living room after going to the bathroom. He nearly trips over Tony's foot and apologies to him.

"so, you must be Phineas. "Tony says as Phineas is taking his seat on the floor next to Kasie and Ellie again.

"yes, sir. It is nice to meet you. McGee told me about you." Phineas says and reaches his hand out to shake Tony's.

"Yeah, what did he say?" Tony asks with a deceptive look to his former fellow agent.

"that you love movies," Phineas says.

"Yeah, I do. Do you like movies?" Tony asks.

"yeah," Phineas says with a proud smile.

"which genre."

"action movies," Phineas says.

"Which one?"

"Marvel Avengers endgame is my favorite. I love the MCU."

"how about classics kid. The real art of film? There was a time where the film was a real art." Tony asks. He has finally found someone to talk movies.

"you mean like those super old Star Wars movies from like the '60s?" Phineas asks, confused, and everyone else starts laughing at the very disproving look on Tony's face.

"kid those movies is what created all of the movies you watch today."

"Nah, not a big fan. I like the new Star Wars movies better." Phineas says. Tony looks very disappointed, and his disappointment in the new generation doesn't get any less from the smug smiles he receives from both McGee, Ziva, and Ellie.

Johnny is snuggled up on his mom's lap while Morgan is trying to find a comfortable place to sit. She ends up crawling up on her dad's lap and settles down after she has tried Ellie, Jimmy, and on the floor in front of Phineas. But none of the spots she found seemed to be as comfortable and safe as her dad's familiar lap next to her brother and her mom. Victoria is snuggled up on her grand-Duckeys lap. Everything is right this Christmas night for the team-Gibbs. Everyone is happy as the movie starts playing. Both current and former members of team-Gibbs are gathered in front of Gibbs black and white tv to watch a Christmas movie. Tomorrow they are going to have to deal with the aftermath of the death of Phineas' mother, but tonight everything is just right.

Merry Christmas.

**Note: I know this doesn't line up 100% with episode 1711, BUT I just wanted some perfect Christmas joy in this chapter. I hope you enjoy it anyway.**


	20. 1711 - goodbye Phineas

**Note: this scene is set after Phineas meets his aunt and uncle and before Ziva's goodbye. I would have liked to see a scene where Phineas says goodbye to the team.**

Phineas walks down the stairs to the bull Penn with Gibbs followed by his aunt Micki and his uncle George and Agent Sloane. Down in the bullpen is Agent McGee, Agent Torres, and Agent Bishop. They are sitting at their desk and finishing up paperwork.

"Uncle George the last time I was in here I was helping agent McGee… he is really cool… with catching a bad guy by playing KWK3. It was so Awesome." Phineas is so engaged in telling his uncle about the cool experience he had with helping the NCIS team. He doesn't really seem to notice that his aunt and uncle have no clue what KWK3 is but that doesn't really matter. What matters to them right now is that they got their foster son back and he is safe and he seems to be happy despite what has happened to his mother.

"it sounds like you had a good time with Agent Gibbs and agent Sloane," Georges says.

"yeah it was awesome I mostly played killing with kindness 3 with Agent McGee he is really awesome and I know a lot about tech." Jack notices how happy Phineas sounds about being back with his foster-parents. They walk down the steps to the bull Penn.

"hey, Phineas," McGee says.

"hey, Agent McGee. This is my aunt Micki and uncle George. I am going to stay with them now." Phineas says and looks happily up at his aunt and uncle.

"you sure are, big guy." His uncle George says and ruffles his hair. Gibbs walks over to his desk and grabs something from his desk drawer. He pulls out an NCIS cap and walks over and puts it on Phineas' head. He flips it around and smiles proudly to Gibbs. The smile on Gibbs's face doesn't go unnoticed by Jack but Gibbs clearly pretends like he isn't noticing how Jack is looking at him.

"Thanks." He says and looks up at his uncle.

"This is agent McGee. He also plays KWK3. He and I, we fought a bad guy bully in the game so that Agent Torres and Agent Bishop they could arrest the bullies in real life. It was so Awesome, Uncle George."

Uncle George looks over at the tall agent in front of him.

"it was great working with you Phineas," McGee says with a smile.

"even though you lost your place as Gibbs tech guy to a kid.

"dude I'm 9," Phineas says in a cocky tone to Torres. At first Aunt Micki is about to correct her foster son's attitude towards the agent, but once she notices the smile on Agent Torres's face she stops herself. It seems like Phineas has some sort of little inside joke going on with this agent.

"Yeah, I don't mind losing my spot as Gibbs tech guy to Phineas," McGee says with a smile to Phineas.

"hunting bad guys in a videogame?" Aunt Micki asks.

"Yeah. It is just like bullies in school. When they push you. you push back. that was what we did online too." Phineas explains. It doesn't seem to calm his aunt down much.

"don't worry he stayed in our tech room the whole time. he was never near the bad guy in any way." Jack reassures her.

"mom didn't like it at first but then I told her how awesome it was. It was like playing KWK3 on a screen that is the size of a movie theater. It was awesome." Phineas explains.

"that sounds like fun, Phineas but we should go soon. We have a few hours drive home." Aunt Micki says.

"Okay," Phineas says a bit sad and then walks over to Agent Torres.

"well, kid I'm glad you are okay."

"Thanks for finding me."

"well, you didn't make it easy kid," Torres says.

"thank you… I think." Phineas says and then shakes hands with Torres. "and just so you know dude, I'm not a little kid." Phineas says a little cocky and then smiles. It makes Agent Torres chuckle.

"I know that kid. Take care." They shake hands and then Phineas walks over to Bishop.

"are you going to be in trouble for what you did to Victor at the airport?" Phineas asks concerned once he is standing in front of Bishop.

"no, I don't think so. He deserved it." Bishop says and kneels down in front of Phineas.

"I don't want you to get in trouble because of me," Phineas says concerned.

"I won't, Phineas. You handled the situation very well yourself." Bishop says with a smile and it makes Phineas smile.

"Jethro Gibbs taught me that," Phineas says and looks back at Gibbs.

"yeah, he taught me most of what I know too," Bishop says.

"take care, Phineas," Bishop says and reaches her hand out to Phineas. He doesn't take it. he gives her a hug instead and then whispers to her.

"This is for punching Victor in the face for me."

It makes Bishop chuckle. "but please don't tell Jethro Gibbs." He adds before they break the hug.

"you know what?" Bishop says and looks over at Gibbs who is just looking at them with a smile. "Gibbs would have done it too and it would have been five times as hard as mine was."

"cool," Phineas says and looks back at Gibbs.

"what?" Gibbs says.

"Agent Bishop says that if you had punched Victor instead you would have punched him five times as hard as she did." Gibbs just gives him a sideways smile and it makes the rest of the agents smile too.

"who is Victor?" Aunt Micki is asking a bit concerned.

"the man who tried to kidnap Phineas. Phineas did a great job dealing with him until the team arrived." Jack says. Aunt Micki looks a bit concerned where uncle Georges smiles proudly at Phineas.

"I just did what Jethro Gibbs has taught me. rule 9." Phineas explains with a smile to Gibbs. And Gibbs nods approvingly.

"What is rule 9?" Uncle Georges asks.

"I'll tell you later," Phineas says and then walks over to Jack. Jack kneels down in front of him.

"thank you, Agent Sloane, for finding my Aunt and Uncle for me," Phineas says and reaches a hand out to shake her hand. She takes his hand.

"you are welcome, Phineas. I'm so glad that we found you so you can live with your aunt and uncle again."

"But I have a question," Phineas says.

"yes go ahead," Jack says.

"Victor said that I was going to Libia to my real uncle. What did he mean by that?" Phineas asks confused.

"hey, Phin." Jack says. "don't worry about what he told you. he lied about everything."

"but…" Phineas says confused.

"hey, Phin." Gibbs kneels down in front of him. "do you remember what we talked about, about bullies?" Gibbs asks.

Phineas nods. "yeah. They try to push people around and sometimes you gotta push back."

Gibbs nods. "Victor wasn't just a bully. He also lied. He was really bad but also not a very smart guy."

"I outsmarted him," Phineas says proudly.

"yes, you did," Gibbs says and nuzzles his hair.

"am I ever going to see you again Jethro Gibbs?" Phineas asks quietly. Gibbs looks around to his fellow agents. He doesn't like being soft in front of his team, but he knows he is soft around Phineas.

"I'm am going to walk you and your aunt and uncle to your car," Gibbs says and stands up. He takes Phineas backpack and they walk to the elevator together followed by aunt Micki and Uncle George.

Once the elevator doors are closed the agents get back to their desks.

"I feel really great that we found Phineas but at the same time, I feel really sad for Gibbs. He let that little guy into his heart and now he is loosing him again." McGee says and starts typing on his computer.

"I don't think Gibbs is going to lose Phineas," Jack says.

"Phineas is safe. He is with his foster-parents now and this whole story with his mother is over. He is going to be fine." Jack says.

"not to mention" Torres sats and everyone looks over at him. he stands up and leans against his desk. "that kid will always have Gibbs to look out for him. no kid can have better protection." It makes them all chuckle.

"Phineas is going to be fine and I am sure he will stay in touch with Gibbs. They both need each other." Jack says. everyone agrees with her on that.

Shortly after they hear Ziva walking into the bullpen along with Jimmy and Kasie.

"McGee…" Ziva says demanding. McGee looks up from his computer.

"Check your phone."

McGee takes his phone out. He has received a video message from Tony Dinozzo. Bishop, Torres, and Kasie hurry over to watch the video with him.

**post episode:**

Gibbs arrives home in his car. He pulls into his driveway and gets out of his car. Before he reaches the front door another car pulls into his driveway next to his truck. It is the familiar car of Jack Sloane. She gets out of the car without saying a word and follows him inside. Once they are inside they take off their coats and shoes and walk into the living room. None of them are saying a word. It hs become their thing to move around in silence. They have build up a routine for their evenings spend together. Jack drops down on the couch while Gibbs goes to the kitchen to grab beers from the fright. He comes back in and drops down on the couch next to her. she snuggles closer to him and he notices how cold her hands are so he reaches over and pulls a blanket over her.

"may I ask you now how you are doing?" she asks and it makes him chuckle.

"year you may and I am doing fine. I'm glad Phineas is safe with his aunt and uncle. They seem like great people.

"you really care about that boy," Jack says and rests her head against his chest.

"yeah, he is a good kid," Gibbs says and takes a sip of his beer. Then his phone rings. It isn't a number he is familiar with.

"Gibbs…" He simply says as he answers.

"hey, Jethro Gibbs." A familiar young boy's voice says. it creates a smile on Gibbs's face.

"Hey, Phineas. How are you?" Gibbs asks. Jack sits up straight by the mention of Phineas' name.

"I'm good. I am at my Aunt and Uncles house now. I asked my aunt if it was okay that I called you to say goodnight. She said it was okay but that if you where already asleep then I shouldn't keep you up."

"I am not asleep, Phineas," Gibbs says. he can't stop smiling by the sound of the young boy's voice.

"I told my uncle George about how you taught me to play baseball and he says that tomorrow he and I are going to go to the batting cage nearby so we can play."

"That is so great Phineas."

"and I also told my Aunt about when you and I made the volcano that won first place and I showed her the picture and aunt Micki says that she will help me get a frame so I can put the picture in a frame for my room."

"that is so great Phineas. Your aunt and uncle sound like great people who will take good care of you."

"yeah, they are the best. I got my old room back, but it is a little kid's room. It has all of my toys from when I was a little kid. I even found the first police car that my uncle gave me when I was little. I put it up on my shelf over my bed together with the police car that you fixed for me and the NCIS badge agent McGee gave me."

"that is great Phineas."

Gibbs doesn't need to say much. he gets the feeling that this call from Phineas is something Phineas needs to make sense of his new life.

"Phineas have you brushed your teeth yet?" it is Phineas aunt Micki who has entered his room. Gibbs can hear her in the background.

"no, not yet Aunt Micki I am still talking to Jethro Gibbs."

"Okay honey, but you need to go brush your teeth soon. It is late and it has been a really long day."

"Okay, Aunt Micki," Phineas says a little sad.

"hey, Phin…" Gibbs says to get his attention back to the phone. "do as your aunt say and go to bed. Get a good night of sleep and enjoy your day tomorrow. You can call me again whenever you need to have a chat. I am never more than a phone call away."

"aunt Micki…" Phineas says. Gibbs gets the feeling she is sitting right next to him. "is it okay with you and Uncle George if I call Jethro Gibbs every once in a while?"

"of course it is Phineas. He is a part of your life." Aunt Micki says and places a kiss on top of Phineas' head.

"Aunt Micki, can I tell Jethro Gibbs one last thing and then I will go and brush my teeth?" Phineas asks.

"sure…" Gibbs hears the sound of a door closing at Phineas' end of the phone. Aunt Micki most have left his room again.

"Jethro Gibbs I told uncle George about rule 9 and how it helps stop Victor from hurting me until you could find me in the airport and uncle George said it was awesome and he said that he would get me a pocketknife so I can always carry a knife but… he did say that I couldn't bring it to school and I can only use it when he is around or when I go visit you… he said I could visit you sometimes still… if it is okay with you."

It makes Gibbs smile. "it is okay with me. I would love that Phineas. You should do as your Aunt told you and go brush your teeth now."

"okay. Goodnight Jethro Gibbs." Phineas says and then hangs up on the phone. Gibbs places his phone on the coffee table. He then notices a big smile on Jack's face.

"what?" he asks.

"you and that kid. it is pretty amazing to see." Gibbs just shakes his head at her and takes a sip of his beer.

"I think it is really sweet how he changes you."

"he doesn't change me." Gibbs protests and leans back against the back of the couch.

"no…" Jack says and snuggles into Gibbs's side. "you are always soft. You just let it show when he is around."

"Stop it, Jack."

Even though Gibbs doesn't like it when Jack analyzes him like that he knows she is right. He does have a soft side he rarely lets show.


	21. 1711 - merry christmas

**Note: I know this chapter comes late, BUT… I needed a perfect idea, and it didn't come to me quickly as it usually does. And with all the bad news from the corona virus and with the horrible news that NCIS will only have 20 episodes in season 17. (Brian Dietzen (Palmer) wrote on twitter they are shutting down the production after the 20****th**** episode this season." I needed some joy, so I finally got the idea for this chapter. I hope you enjoy it.**

"Thanks for taking care of his heart." That was what Ziva had said. Ziva said thanks to Jack for taking care of his heart. She was most likely talking about Gibbs. Who else would it be, right? Ziva did say that Gibbs speaks very highly of her. She hadn't expected anything less from Gibbs; although he isn't exactly always found of her work when she is trying to get into his head at the end of the day, she knows he respects and values her opinion and her work.

It had been some very emotional past few days. Gibbs had been on an emotional rollercoaster and with him the entire team, along with herself. Now, Phineas is safe and found. He is on his way home with his foster parents in Philadelphia. Ziva is on her way to reunite with her daughter and former Special Agent Tony DiNozzo, and whatever he is to her. Jack has been trying to figure out what the nature of Tony and Ziva's relationship is, but no one has been able to label it in anyways. Maybe that doesn't matter. Perhaps the important part is that Phineas is safe. Gibbs is secure, and Ziva is on her way to be reunited safely with her family. And Jack, she has just left the office, and instead of driving home, she drives over to Gibbs's house.

Gibbs is as usual in his basement, working on his boat. She can hear sandpaper grinding on wood coming from the open door leading to the basement. Jack walks down there, and as Jack walks down the steps, he leaves the sandpaper and walks over to the table and finds a glass jaw and pours a glass of bourbon for her. He hands her the glass as she approaches him. She silently accepts the glass, and he pours a drink for himself.

"How are you doing?" she finally asks.

"fine." He just simply says and walks back to his work on the boat.

"How are you feeling about Ziva leaving again?" Jack asks.

"stay out of my head Jack." He says, and he is standing with his back to her while he continues his work on the boat.

"she is going to be with her family, as she should." He states with no apparent emotions, but it is just a fact.

"you are going to miss her."

"she did what she came back for, and now Ziva is going to be with DiNozzo and Tali as she should be."

"you are shutting down your own emotions," Jack says and leans against the wall. She is just observing him.

"you have had to say goodbye to two people that you care very much about within the last 24 hours."

"Jack." He says and drops the sandpaper on the boat and turns around. "did you just come here to annoy me and try to get in my head, or did you come here for a real reason?"

"Okay, you got me." she says after they have been having a starring contest for almost 30 seconds. "it was something Ziva said to me."  
"she gets confused about the English language, sometimes Jack. She confused Kasie too. Don't overthink it." Gibbs says with a smile as he remembers some of the funniest times where Ziva got confused with English expressions.

"I don't think she was confused about the English language," Jack says and walks around the boat to stand across from him. he has continued his work on the boat. "she said you speak very highly of me."

"why wouldn't I?" he casually asks as he focuses on his work.

"wow, Gibbs…" she says sarcastically. "you really know how to compliment people."

"Just because I don't say it. Doesn't mean that I don't mean it," Gibbs says, never looking over at her.

"what did you say to Ziva about me?" Jack asks when Gibbs finally looks up at her and meets her eyes over the boat.

"why?"

"there was something else she said to me. She whispered to me, thanks for taking care of his heart."

Gibbs looks down and continues his work the moment the conversation gets too emotional. Just like he always does.

"I told her you are a valuable asset to the team," Gibbs says as he can feel Jack is standing right behind him now. He is focusing more intensely at his work on the boat.

"she asked why you were at my house when we discovered Phineas was gone."  
"What did you tell her?" Jack asks. She is now standing right next to him. She places her hand on top of his that is holding the sandpaper. He let go of the sandpaper and slowly turn his body to face her. He continues to look down to avoid looking into those dark brown eyes.

"I told her you are my friend. That I trust you, so I asked you to come over," he admits.

"you didn't ask me. I basically begged you to let me come over. You didn't even want me around." Jack says teasingly.

"I always want you around," he says a little too fast before he realizes what he just said. He looks up to see a big soft smile on her face. He leans in and places a kiss on her lips.

"Jack…" he says and takes her hands in his and gently rubs his thumb over her hand. "I know I have been pushing you away over the past few days. you were right to call me out the other day."

"It is okay. I understand. You care about that boy; I get it. the whole team does." Gibbs looks into her dark brown eyes. They are so soft and understanding.

"Thanks." He says and places another kiss on her lips before he walks away from her. He turns to his table, where he keeps all his tools. He is searching for something on his desk. Jack leans against the boat.

"next time you start pushing me away…" she starts waiting for him to turn around to face her, but he doesn't he is busy searching for something. "please don't kick trashcans after me next time." Gibbs can't hear in her voice whether she is joking or not, so he looks back at her over his shoulder. She is leaning casually against his boat, but he can't weather she was serious or not. He finally finds what he was looking for and turns around and walks over to her again.

"I didn't kick it after you."

"you nearly hit me."

"But I didn't." they are both very persistent, and they both know that none of them are going to give up on their view. A smile comes up on Jack's face when she starts to find their intense starring contest amusing. She looks down at his hand, where he is holding a bottle of bourbon. It is the same kind as the one they shared last Christmas.

"I want to crack this open. You are in?" Gibbs asks and holds the bottle up for her.

"are you going to light a fire?" she asks. Gibbs nods with a smile, and Jack starts smiling.

"I'm in," she says with a smile. Gibbs grabs her hand, and they walk up the stairs to the living room together.

Jack drops down on the couch and watches Gibbs light a fire in the fireplace. She likes how he knows how to do it, and she finds it quite attractive even though she isn't going to admit that. When Jack relocated from California, Jack never thought she would find the rustic cowboy-style attractive. She grabs a blanket that is on the back of the couch and wraps it around her.

"ill get the fire going quickly, Jack." He says once he looks over at her and sees she has wrapped herself in a blanket. He leaves the living room to go and get something for the fire. Jack notices some piece of paper lying on the dining table. She gets up to look at it. It seems like topographical maps. Jack feels the wind coming into the house when Gibbs reenters the house. The cold breeze makes her shiver. Gibbs comes back in and kneels in front of the fireplace with some chunks of wood he just brought in.

"What is this, Gibbs? Are you going camping?" Jack asks, referring to the maps on the dining table.

"Nah. Maybe. I just thought about going to my cabin for a couple of days. just to clear my head after all of this."

Jack laughs. "is not going to be cold?" she asks. He chuckles.

"for a California girl like you? Yes. For me, Nah. I have done that before."

"Okay, okay, cowboy, I got it. I don't fit into your cowboy lifestyle." She jokes.

"I wouldn't mind some company, though." He says and blows on the small fire that he has just gotten started. "if you can stay warm." He adds with a teasing smile that she can't see. He adds some more wood onto the fire before he stands up and wipes his hands clean in a dirty piece of cloth, he has lying next to the fireplace.

"I thought you went to the cabin to be alone?" she says with a teasing smile to see if he really meant it when he said he wouldn't mind some company.

"I usually do, but… if a city-girl can stay warm out there, I wouldn't mind you coming along."  
"or you could keep me warm." She says with a daring smile.

"sounds like a deal." He says to her big surprise. She wasn't expecting him to play along with her game. He looks back at her over his shoulder. She is pretending like she isn't noticing him. She looks at a photo of the cabin while she is hugging herself to stay warm until the fire is heating up to the living room. Gibbs stands up and wraps his arms around her. At first, it catches her by surprise, but then she leans into him.

"I could get used to this," she says as he places kisses down her neck.

"hmmm…" he mumbles into her neck. He places one last kiss on her neck before he leaves the room, and she is once again feeling the cold air in the living room. "that is cruel Gibbs." She calls out after him, and she can hear him chuckle as he runs up the stairs to the top floor of the house. She is left alone in the living room, and as she sits down on the couch, she notices something hanging in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. She gets up to take a closer look. Once she realizes what it is, she chuckles to herself. She would never have expected to find a mistletoe hanging in Gibbs's house.

"you know you have to stand under it to get a kiss, right?" his reappearance catches her by surprise. She turns around and sees that he has brought down some blankets.

"I would never have taken you for a romantic, Gibbs." Jack jokes and walks back over to the fireplace, where Gibbs is placing the blanket on the floor.

"I'm not. It isn't mine." He says while he is busy arranging the blankets. "it is Kelly's." He explains, and he stops moving around once he says her name out loud. "she used to call it her magic kissing-thing." Jack notices the little smile on his face as he recalls his little girl. "she would run around with it and hold it over her head and tell me to look at her. that was a hint for me to come over and kiss her." It makes Jack smile too. She can imagine Gibbs must have been an amazing father. She has seen how he is around the McGee-twins. She can only imagine how he must have been with his daughter. "she never really got the concept of hanging it up." Gibbs says with a smile of the memory of his little girl. Jack walks over and sits down on the blankets that Gibbs has finished arranging. He gets up to Jack's surprise and walks over to the mistletoe and takes it down. He walks back over and sits down next to Jack and hands it to Jack.

"it is plastic?" Jack says, surprised at her observation. Gibbs nods.

"Yeah. Kelly loved that thing. I hang it up every year."  
"in the same spot?" Jack asks. Gibbs nods.

"Yeah. The last Christmas we spend together, I finally convinced her to hang it up. So, she and I hanged it up over there while Shannon was in the kitchen. Kelly called her to come over, and both Shannon and I placed a kiss on Kelly's cheeks." Gibbs says while he is looking into the flames. The memory of his two girls still feels so fresh in his mind especially around this time of year. He seems lost in his memory for a while. Jack is just observing him. She doesn't want to disturb his memory of his family. Then he looks over at her with a smile.

"it was a long time ago." He says and leans an arm around her and pulls her closer to him. They enjoy the quietness as they are just sitting together in front of the fire. The heat from the fire is starting to warm Jack up.

"you didn't plan on going skiing this year?" Gibbs asks.

"Naah… with everything craziness that is going on, I figured I was better of not making any plans. My Christmas plans over the past three years since I moved to DC hasn't exactly gone as planned.

"Sorry about that he says and places a kiss on her head.

"just because they didn't go as planned doesn't mean I didn't have a good time." she says, look up at him with a smile. "last Christmas was pretty good." They both smile at the memory of last Christmas. They spend most of the time drinking bourbon in front of the fire in Gibbs's living room. They might have had a few too many glasses because Jack doesn't remember much of the evening, but she does remember that she had a great time with Gibbs and that she saw a completely different side of him that night on Christmas eve last year. They enjoy the time in front of the fire as they drink their bourbon. After a few hours, Jack is starting to feel the effect of alcohol. The mood is light and joyful between the two friends, but there is also something else in the air. The elephant in the room. Jack can feel it, and she knows Gibbs is aware of it too; otherwise, he wouldn't have given her the painting, but still, they haven't spoken about it since then. He kisses her on the lips every once in a while, but other than that. Nothing has happened. Sometimes she doubts whether it has something to do with her battle scars. She is so used to them being a turn-off. So maybe he just doesn't find her attractive. The thought makes her sad, and the alcohol quickly makes the idea leave her head. Over the few hours, Gibbs hand resting over her shoulder, holding her close and his hand that at first rested on his upper arm are sliding down lower and lover until she takes his hand in her hers and intervenes their fingers. It is starting to feel more natural for her to hold his hand. He has taken her hand a few times for reassurances, but now it just feels natural and comfortable.

Jack hates to bake their closeness and the moment, but she needs to get up and go to the bathroom. Gibbs takes that as a moment to go to the kitchen to grab two glasses. Once he reenters the living room, Jack is standing near the window towards the street. She has her back towards him as she is taking off her big hoodie she was wearing. Her top that she is wearing under her hoodie is climbing up and reveals part of her skin. Gibbs politely and a little shyly looks away from her, but then he hears her chuckle under the hoodie.

"you know I can see you, right?" she asks as she finally manages to get the hoodie off. "in the reflection in the window." She explains to his bewildered look that asks her how she could see him when she had her back to him and a big hoodie covering her head. She runs a hand through her now messy hair and then pulls her top down again. She could feel how his eyes were staring at her and especially the revealed part of her skin. She never breaks eye contact with him even though he is trying to avoid her guilt-tripping stare at him, even though she doesn't mind the attention he is giving her. She then drops the hoodie over the bag of one of the chairs while Gibbs places the glasses on the coffee table. Jack sits down next to Gibbs.

"Are you okay with that I am not wearing my hoodie?" Jack asks.

"sure," Gibbs says a little uncertain as to why she would be asking.

"you know that I have the scars om my back, but I can just cover them with my hoodie if…"  
"no need to." Gibbs says and takes her hand reassuringly in his. "it is a part of you, Jack."  
"but they aren't exactly pleasant to look at."  
"I don't mind." Gibbs says and reassuringly squeezes her hand. "we all have battle scars." He says with a reassuring smile and hands her a glass of water.

"Thanks." She takes a sip of her water. "I am just so used to men loose interest in me once they see my scars." She leans back on the couch. Maybe it is the alcohol that makes her feel more comfortable bringing this up now, or perhaps it is because she is tired of their "thing" not going anywhere even though they are both aware of it.

"I have seen your scars, Jack. And if men lose interest in you because of them, they were never interested in you in the first place."  
"that is what scares me," she admits. Gibbs turns his upper body to focus more on her. Their heads are close now.

"why?" he asks. And is just looking at Jack. Jack looks up into the ceiling. This subject is very emotional for her, but she knows if there is anyone she can talk about it with, it is Gibbs.

"because…" she starts to feel the tears forming in her eyes. "I haven't had a long-term relationship since I came back from Afghanistan. What if I never will, because of what that monster did to me?"

"Maybe you just haven't found the right person yet. I haven't had a long-term relationship. "he admits trying and make her feel a bit better. "that actually where a happy relationship or not work-related. "he adds, which makes her smile. "no since Shannon died."

"I'm sorry about that." She says and places a hand on his face and gently touches his cheek. "Maybe we are just two broken birds destined to be alone." She says with sadness in her voice.

"no reason we can't be alone together. Gibbs says, trying to make her smile, which works. They both start chuckles.

"that sounds like a great plan." She looks into his deep blue eyes. Her brown eyes are so soft and sweet, and she is so close to him right now. All he has to do, to show is to move those few inches closer to her and kiss her. He can't stop looking at her lips. They seem so soft and so close to him right now. Gibbs receives a text on his phone, and it breaks the moment. He growls a bit when he takes his phone out, but the irritation of the broken moment is quickly replaced by a big smile that intriguer Jacks curiously for the received text.

"it is from DiNozzo," Gibbs informs Jack without her asking.

The text reads.

"Thanks for reuniting my family, Boss. You told me years ago to take care of my family. I promise I will. Merry Christmas, Boss. D." Gibbs scrolls down and sees an added line a few lines down it reads: "I look forward to meeting Special gent Sloane someday. I hear she is very special." It just makes Gibbs chuckle. That is so DiNozzo. Ziva or McGee must have mention Jack to him.

The smile on Gibbs's face is unmistaken for pure joy and love for his former senior field agent. Soon after, another text arrives on Gibbs's phone.

"Mery Critmas from me to, uncle Gibs. Tali." The text makes Gibbs smile even more. The spelling arrows in the messages has its charm.

"How old is she?" Jack asks when she sees the text from Tali.

"she must be about six years old now. She is from either late 2013 or early 2014." Gibbs says and drops the phone on the coffee table.

"Ziver is going home to her family, and Phineas is with his foster parents where he belongs, and Sahar is gone." Gibbs sums up the happy events from the last week.

"I would say that is a merry Christmas," Jack says.

"yeah." Gibbs agrees. They both take their glasses of bourbon from the table and cling the glasses together before they take a sip.

"Merry Christmas, Gibbs," Jack says.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Jack," Gibbs says with a smile and places the glass back on the table, and Jack does the same. Gibbs takes her in for her hug, and she is expecting him to place a kiss on her head like he did last year when he wished her Merry Christmas, but when Gibbs doesn't she looks up at him, and he captures her lips in a sweet Christmas kiss.

**Note: Tony DiNozzo is NOT easy for me to write. So, if you have any suggestions of improvement on how I can capture the essence of DiNozzo in that text, please let me know.**

**Side note: I have updated the chapter: "Phineas Christmas" with an extended version. There were some ideas I didn't get in the first upload. I hope you enjoy it. (updated March 14****th,**** 2020)**


	22. 1715 - not so secret admirer

**Note: This is a rewritten version of my one-shot not so secret admirer. It is rewritten so it lines up better with the actual episode "lonely hearts" (17x15) I hope you enjoy it and please let me know what you think.**

**This scene is placed after the fatal date between Phil and Stacy and before Nick says he doesn't want to be the one telling Gibbs there was no Match on Stacy's hair.**

**In the bullpen**

Torres, Bishop, and McGee are sitting at their desks when Jack comes into the bullpen when Jack enters the bullpen.

"Morning, guys." Jack greets. "Have any of you seen Gibbs?"

"I think he went out to get coffee," McGee says in a casual tone as she continues looking at his computer and doing whatever works he is currently occupied with.

"you are sure you don't know where he is, Jack?" Nick asks. Jack turns towards Nick with a death stare.

"Stop it, Nick." She says demanding.

"come on Jack. He sends you a dozen roses and chocolate on valentine's day." Nick teases and behind Jack is Bishop sitting with a big amused smile too.

"it is not from him. okay?" Jack says irritated.

"come on Jack. He kissed you in front of us. Poker games at his place. He tells you his deepest secrets before he tells us. He asks you to help with cases where he keeps us in the dark." Nick starts with his amused smile." I am surprised I don't see any ring on that finger yet." Nick jokes and receives a deadly stare from Jack.

"you are getting engaged, Torres?" that is Gibbs coming into the bullpen from behind Nick.

"hmm… no boss…" Nick doesn't really seem to know what to say and that amuses the other agents. "it wasn't for me Boss."  
"how about for her who were feeding you Valentine chocolate yesterday?" Jack asks with a clear tone of mocking and she receives an annoyed look from Nick.

"got a girlfriend, Torres?" Gibbs asks.

"no, I do not boss…" Torres tries desperately to keep his cool despite the mocking smile on Jack's face.

"really? It sure seemed like you two were more than friends?" Jack says trying to imitate Nick from when he first called Jack out and Nick gets clearly more annoyed with her for every word she says. McGee just has a big smile on his face because he is fully aware of what Nick did to Jack when he first called her out about her and Gibbs months ago, but on the contrary to Bishop and Torres McGee has stayed away from teasing Jack. Bishop doesn't seem so entertained any more now that she receives the same mocking glance from Jack as Torres gets and she knows she is just as much in trouble as Torres if Gibbs finds out. Bishop fed Torres a piece of chocolate from Jack's valentine yesterday. She never thought it would come back to bit her. Right now, it doesn't seem like Gibbs is aware of what Jack is doing to his team, and what they have been doing to Jack. Although he must have heard what Torres and Bishop said to Jack when Gibbs kissed Jack on the cheek. Yet…Gibbs doesn't say anything or intervene in the conversation between Jack, Torres, and Bishop. Gibbs has been focusing on something at his desk. He gets up from his desk and is standing next to Jack.  
"Are you two having a staring contest or something?" Gibbs asks when he notices Jack is just giving Torres the death stare and Torres looks almost as annoyed as Jack does. Torres doesn't say anything. He must step very lightly right now so he doesn't provoke Jack so much that Gibbs steps in and defends her. he wants to tease Jack, just enough for it to be fun but also not so much that Gibbs steps in and defends her.

"not so fun when it is the other way around, is it Nick?" Jack asks with a confident tone.

"point taken," Nick says.  
"stay out of my personal life," Jack says in a demanding tone and walks towards the stairs. When she has reached the midway platform of the stairs she leans over the railing.

"all of you," she says and looks especially accusing at Torres and Bishop before she runs up the stairs to her office.

"ups," Bishop says quietly, and they all get back to their desks except for Gibbs. He looks confused after Jack and then at his three agents. They are not going to report to him what that was about. They try to look as busy with the case as possible to avoid any questions from him.

"where are we on the hair sample from Stacy?" Gibbs asks.

"no result yet boss," McGee says as he looks up from his computer.

"let me know when there are one," Gibbs says and then leaves the bullpen.

**Followed by the scene where Torres tells Gibbs that the hair sample didn't match Stacy's hair.**

**Jacks office**

Jack enters her office and sits down in her desk chair with a confident smile on her face. she finally got back at Nick for teasing and mocking her for the last 6 months. Now he will finally stay out of her personal life. Jack looks up at the painting Gibbs gave her month ago. It still has the little note that says "Merry Christmas" hanging in the corner. Jack is just starring dreamy up at the painting when it suddenly knocks on her door. She quickly sits up straight and tries to seem like she was busy before she gives the come into the unexpected visitor. To Jack's big surprise, it is Gibbs. He steps in and closes the door behind him.

"Everything alright Jack?" he asks a little uncertain.

"sure," Jack says with a big smile and stands up and walks around her desk.

"you sure?" he asks. he doesn't seem to buy her smile.

"Yeah. Why?" she asks now in an uncertain tone too.

"It was just what happened in the bullpen." Jack looks confused at him. "that comment. 'stay out of my personal life.' Something happened?" he asks.

She signs and looks down at her hands while she is leaning against her desk.

"It was only to Bishop and Torres. Mainly Torres."  
"what did he do?"

"you don't know?" she asks surprised at look up at him. he looks completely oblivious. "I would ask if I did, Jack." He says.

"Torres… He has been messing with my head. Calling me out on personal stuff." She says and looks up at Gibbs to see how he reacts. To her big surprise, he has a shy smile on his face.

"what?" she asks.

"not so fun when it is the other way around," he says repeating what she said to Nick earlier.

"well, Gibbs. It is my job to mess around in your heads to help you deal with things." Jack says as a little frustrated and walks around in the office. "It is not his job to mess with my head and calling me out on who I am personally involved with." She stops and looks at Gibbs with a serious look. He is standing with his back to her.

"I didn't know you were involved with anyone." He says and turns around to face her. He suddenly sounds softer and almost hurt when he says it.

"I'm not, but that is not the point." She says a little harsh at first before she looks into his eyes and she realized what he just said.

"you are right. That is no one's business who you are seeing privately." He says and is about to leave. "Gibbs." She says just when Gibbs is about to open the door and leave. He stops and turns around to look at her.

"he didn't specifically call me out on who I am involved with… more like…" Jack says but she loses her courage the moment she looks into his blue eyes. "who I want to be with." She says as she looks out the window of her office. She can't get herself to look at him, in case she doesn't see what she wants to see. He suddenly feels his hands breath against her neck as he whispers to her.

"if they want to talk. Let them talk." Gives her chills down her spine feeling he is standing so close behind her.

"that kiss yesterday?" She asks in a whispering almost not audible voice. "you knew what they were doing. You provoked them." She turns around to see his expression. He has a big shy smile on his face. that sweet sideways smile he has sometimes.

"if they really want to talk. Why not give them something to actually talk about?" He asks, and she starts smiling.

"next time." she says and steps away from him. "enlighten me in the plan." She says.

"I thought you were." He says and turns around to face her. she is standing near her desk to put some distance between them because he is distracting her when he is so close to her. She looks confused at him.

"you offered me chocolate." He says like that is answer enough to her question, but she just looks even more confused.

"yeah and you kissed me," she says almost accusingly.

"okay. It won't happen again." He sounds hurt when he says that. She looks down disappointed. She didn't mean to hurt his feelings.

"I didn't say that Gibbs. Just not in front of the team." She says in a more pleading tone and steps closer to him.

"The team is not here now." He says almost whispering and takes her hands in his and gently brushes his thumb over her hand to see if he is overstepping any lines. When she doesn't pull her hand away, he takes that as a good sign. He leans in and places a kiss on her cheek. As he pulls back, she notices how she slowly moves a little bit closer to him. He looks at her eyes to see her reaction. When he sees a smile on her face, and she moves her head closer to him he places a kiss on her cheek but very close to her lips, but not actually on the lips. He pulls back and all he receives is an annoyed look on her face and he just has a teasing smile on his face.

"you are so irritating sometimes." She says whispering but still with a loving smile on her face. he lets go of her hand and takes her into a big hug. At first, it catches her by surprise but then he wraps her arms around him too. She rests her head against his chest. He places a kiss on her forehead. After a few moments where they are just standing there and enjoying the closeness and the comfort of each other, it knocks on the door. Jack is instinctively about to pull away from Gibbs, but he isn't letting go of her. he is holding her tight to him as the door opens. It is Nick. Just the person that Jack really didn't want it to be. Nick has a big knowing grin on his face as Jack turns her face to look at him.

"you needed something Torres?" Gibbs asks when Nick is just starring at them.

"yes, boss we got a lead," Nick says still looking directly at Jack with his big teasing grin. Jack is just resting her head against Gibbs's chest. He places a kiss on her head and let's go of her.

"later." He whispers to her and then he walks by Torres in the door and leaves. Nick stays in the doorway and stares at her. she is trying not to let him bother her. Nick just saw exactly what he wanted, and Jack doesn't care.

"Torres!" Gibbs yells down the hall and Torres quickly closes the door and follows Gibbs.

**(I know this scene doesn't line up with the next scene 100% but I really liked the idea of it being Nick walking in on them. I know it would work better if it was Kasie, telling Gibbs that the hair didn't match, which would explain how Gibbs knew before Nick said it in the bullpen in the next scene)**

**Post episode – Gibbs house**

After Gibbs had thrown the phone with the dating-app into the fireplace he went to the kitchen to grab a beer. He gets back into the living room and drops down on the couch. he has a lot of stuff t think about from the last two days. he nearly ruined his friend's new relationship; he forgot valentine's day and thereby didn't get Jack a valentine and now he really wishes he had. When he saw how happy she looked when she thought he got her the valentine he really wished he had gotten her something. And then there was Phils talk about loneliness. Gibbs usually don't think about how alone he is. He got his team and his job which is basically his whole life, but sometimes… he feels lonely and he wishes he had someone to go home to at night. He leans his head back on the couch and closes his eyes for a moment. He suddenly feels something leaning against his left side and he opens his eyes. Jack is sitting next to him snuggled up against him with one leg tuck up under her and the other one rests over his legs. Her head is resting on his shoulder and she is hugging his arm while she is answering a text on her phone. He looks down at her. she seems so relaxed. She sends the text and lays her phone on her leg that is resting over him. he leans his head against hers and places a kiss on her head.

"morning." She says with a smile sits up more so she can look at him.

"morning?" he asks confused.

"you were asleep." She says.

"no it wasn't." he objects.

"I have been here for nearly an hour now. You were sound asleep."  
"I was just resting and thinking."

"you were sleeping," Jack says with an amused smile.

"I was thinking." Gibbs protests and sits up in a quick defensive action.

"about what?" Jack asks testing his lie.

"you," Gibbs says and leans back again and enjoys the surprised look on Jack's face.

"Why?" she asks. he just looks at her with a smile. "why were you thinking about me?" she asks a little irritated that he won't answer her.

"did you figure out who your secret admirer is?" Gibbs asks.

"yes," Jack says and snuggles into Gibbs again. He leans an arm around her and holds her close. "it was Faith. She also sent a card. There was a mess up, so I didn't get the card until today. She wrote to me that she is thinking of me." Jack's hand is resting on her leg that is stretched out over Gibbs. Gibbs places his hand on top of hers and she intervenes their fingers. "what does it mean Gibbs?" she sounds sad and confused. "a few months ago, she asked me to meet her and she handed me a bunch of medical forms and now she sends me a valentine's card."

"I think it is her way of slowly starting a relationship with you but on her terms," Gibbs says and places a comforting kiss on her head, and it makes her smile.

"speaking of relationships… how did it go with your relationship advice for Phil?" they both start laughing.

"I think he is going to be with Stacy for a while."

"she forgave him?" Jack asks and sits up to look at Gibbs and let's go of his hand once she becomes conscious of it.

"Yeah. So now I have to hear about that." Gibbs says tiredly.

"you should be happy for your friend. His wife cheated on him and now he found love again. he got himself out on a dating app and found love." Jack says optimistically.

"yeah which I am happy for him about as long as he doesn't try to get me on one of those dating- whatever it is."

"you?" Jack says surprised and starts laughing so much she can barely talk. "does he even know you?" she manages to ask in between laughing. It makes Gibbs laugh too.

"he stopped by earlier and gave me a phone where he had made a profile… or whatever it is called… on that dating thing that our victims used." Gibbs says while Jack is trying to stop laughing.

"He made a dating profile for you?" she asks and Gibbs nods. "I want to see it," she says excitedly almost like a teenage girl.

"I threw it in the fire," Gibbs says. Jack stops laughing and looks shocked at him. "why?" he shrugs.

"come on Jack," Gibbs says and Jack nods. she knows he is too much of an old fashion cowboy to be on dating websites. She snuggles into him again.

"you know you can find love in other places than on dating apps," Jack says with a teasing smile that she knows Gibbs can't see.

"I am *not* going to date *anyone*, Jack." He says persistent with a certain focus on the word anyone. It hurts Jack more than she thought it would.

"Okay…" she says more hurt then she meant it to sound. She didn't want to reveal to Gibbs how much that sentence hurt her feelings.

"Jack." He says and she sits up to look at him. Her smile has changed to a sadder expression now.

"do you honestly think I am the kind of man to be on a dating app?" Gibbs asks.

"no, you are too much of a cowboy." She says a little cold and gets up from the couch. "there are other places where you can meet new people, Gibbs." She says as she walks across the living room to the kitchen. She comes back with a cold beer in her hand and sits down on the couch, but this time further away from him than before.

"what if I don't want to…" he says in a softer and whispering voice. She takes a sip of her beer and then looks at him with a confused look. "want to do what?" she asks.

"meet *new* people." He says. At first, she doesn't understand what he means but when he reaches out for her hand she smiles and places the beer bottle on the coffee table before she snuggles in close to him. he hugs her tight to him and places a kiss on her head. He then rests his hand on top of hers that is resting on her thigh. She moves her hand from under his, so his hand is resting directly on his leg. He is about to move his hand afraid he might have overstepped a line but instead she places her hand on his and intervene their fingers. For a while, they are just sitting there like that. Jack is nearly falling asleep as she is resting her head against his chest and she listens to his slow and steady heartbeat. His arm is so protective and comforting around her as his hand is resting on her leg. It feels so comforting that she nearly falls asleep, but the comfort is interrupted when her phone beeps. She reaches over at look at the screen. It is a text from Faith. Jack looks over at Gibbs. His eyes are closed. "the text from faith says: 'I just got home from work. You can call when you have time'. she tried to call Faith earlier before she left the office, but Faith didn't pick up, so she left Faith a voice message. She really wants to talk to Faith but at the same time, she is so comfortable right now.

"I need to make a call." She says apologetically.

"hmmm…" he mumbles. She grabs the phone and steps outside to make the call to Faith.

While Jack is outside making the phone call Gibbs walk down to his basement and grabs the bottle of bourbon, he has stowed down there. Luckily Phil didn't find it earlier. It is a bottle he only shares with Jack from time to time when she comes over. He places the bottle on the coffee table and goes to the kitchen to grab small glasses. When he comes back into the living room, Jack is standing in the doorway between the hallway and the living room.

"bourbon?" she asks surprised and looks at him with a teasing smile. "what is the occasion?" she asks as she walks over and drops down on the couch again.

"do there has to be an occasion?" he asks as he sits down next to here.

"so." She says and turns to look at him as he is pouring the liquor into the glasses. "are you going to answer my question now?" she asks. He looks at her with a raised eyebrow.

"why were you thinking about me?" she asks. he doesn't answer but hands her one of the glasses and then leans back on the couch and takes a sit of his own glass.

"hmm… let's see." She says as she now how much it annoys him when she is analyzing him. "it was valentines yesterday. Your friend Phil got a new girlfriend…" she says pretending to be seriously analyzing him while she knows it annoys him, but she has trouble keeping a serious face.

"stay out of my Head Jack"  
"you said you were thinking about me…" she says and points at his chest. "then I can be in your head, and I am allowed to know what you were thinking about, regarding me."

"I was just thinking about that whole secret admirer valentine thing," Gibbs says casually and takes another sip of his glass. He knows it annoys her that he isn't giving anything away and it amuses him.  
"you are jealous?" she asks teasingly and at him with teasing eyes.

"no. I am not." He objects a bit too fast and it amuses Jack. "good. You got no reason to be. It was from Faith."

"what I am saying is... If there was a man who had send you a secret valentine gift, I can't blame him."

"There wasn't, Gibbs." She says and leans her head comfortably against his chest. She is trying to hide the smile on her face. she feels like a silly lovesick teenage girl with butterflies in her stomach when she hears Gibbs say things like that. "did you mean what you said yesterday?" she asks.

"about what?" he asks.

"yesterday when I thought it was you who had send it to me, you said that you wished you had thought about it."

"hmmm." He mumbles against her hair. "Kasie though I gave it to you," he says into her hair.

"So did the rest of the team."  
"why?" he asks. Jack looks up at Gibbs to see if he is serious.

"because they think we have a *thing*" Jack explains with a bit of uncertainty in her voice. She can't figure out if he is serious or not.

"what thing?" Gibbs asks confused but Jack notices the little smile in his eyes, and she leans into his chest again and snuggles comfortably against him again and she feels his arm comfortably reassuring around her.

"you know… special chemistry… unspoken feelings for each other… an elephant in the room sort of thing…" the last part makes Gibbs chuckle.

"right." Gibbs says and places a kiss on her head. "but we don't" he says, and she looks up at him confused but is delighted when she sees the shy smile on his face. so, she rests her head against his chest again.

"so, this is just normal for you? being cozy with your colleagues like this? kissing your colleagues on the cheek in the office in front of the rest of the team? Letting your colleagues stay over at your house almost on a regular basis?" she asks with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"kissing my colleagues on the cheek? Yes. I have done that a lot with both Abby, Kate, Ziva, Kasie and Ellie. Letting my colleagues stay over? Yah I think every member of my team has stayed over for one reason or another." She waits for him to answer the last part of her question. When he doesn't, she sits up to look at him and wait for an answer while staring at him which she knows annoys him.

"Are you normally this cozy with your colleagues too?" she asks with a teasing smile. He just looks at her with a shy smile before he looks away to avoid her daring glance at him. She continues to stare at him with a daring look to get him to answer her question.

"you want another beer?" he suddenly asks in a casual tone. She looks a bit irritated at him and signs in defeat.

"don't change the subject." She gives him a playful push on the shoulder.  
"you are the one who changes the subject all the time."  
"no I don't," she says defensively and sits up straight to look at him "and answer my question." She says demanding. "or else…" she says in a daring tone and looks at him with a daring glance.

"or else what?" he asks in the same daring tone and leans his head closer to her. She suddenly loses her courage in this game she is playing. She thought she would have more nerves then she does to dare Gibbs, but as soon as he moves closer to her and looks into her eyes she loses her courage and looks away from him, hoping he would just let it go, but he doesn't. Instead, he places his hand on her face and she leans her head against the palm of his hand. She closes her eyes and enjoys the touch of his hand on her cheek. She is surprised when she suddenly feels his lips on her cheek. When he moves back, she opens her eyes and looks at him. She looks right into his deep blue eyes.

"you didn't answer my question, Jack." He says repeating her question from earlier. The smile on his face makes her a bit more confident as she is looking into his deep blue eyes. She slowly leans forward and places a hesitant kiss on his lips. She is afraid she has overstepped a line until she feels he is kissing her back and deepen the kiss. He is gently pushing her backward as he is holding her in his arms, and she lays down on the couch and he follows her and leans over her as they continue the kiss. Once they break the kiss they look into each other's eyes.

"the answer to your question is no," he says, and she can't hide her smile.

"good," She says with a smile.

"happy valentine's day, Jack." He says and kisses her again.

**Note: I have to come out with one little frustration here: I am so annoyed with people who criticize the episode for being unrealistic. Okay year sure it is stupid to throw a phone into a fireplace, but enjoy the show for the entertainment and not for realism. It was fun anyway. sorry I had to get it out.**

**I hope you enjoyed the episode as much as I did.**


	23. 1718 - broken fragile teacup

**Note: I LOVED the episode 1718 and especially Jack's story. (I love the actress who plays Jack, and her performance just makes the story and the character even better – in my opinion) I didn't like that the episode left my two favorite characters mad at each other. So, I fixed it. I called in the most exceptional Conflict Resolution Specialist on the team and here is the result - enjoy**

**Jacks office**

Yesterday was a very emotional day for Jack. She had an argument with Gibbs over Faith's father, and she finally told Faith the truth about her father. They had spent hours in the coffee shop, just talking, getting to really know each other in a way that Jack had dreamed about so many times but never dared to actually hope would ever happen. Jack walks into her office and drops her bag on the couch and takes off her jacket. She then sits down at her desk and gets ready for work. About an hour later, it knocks on the door. Jack signs. She really hopes it isn't Gibbs. She isn't in the mood to deal with him looking at her like a victim right now. She takes off her glasses before she gives her visitor permission to enter. To her pleasant surprise, it is Ducky.

"morning, Ducky." Jack greets cheerfully.

"closed-door today, Jaqueline?" Ducky asks when he enters.

"needed some quiet time," Jack explains with a shrug.

"you texted me to come and see you. how can I be at any assistance?" Ducky asks in his traditional fashion.

"I got great news. I wanted to tell you." Jack says, unable to hide her joy. Ducky look intrigued by her excitement.

"I spoke with Faith yesterday…"

"you daughter?" Ducky asks for clarification. Jack nods.

"she told me why she needed the medical forms for extended family medical history."

"I take, based on your smile, that she isn't experiencing any serious medical conditions."

"no… Faith and her fiancée are going through fertility treatment."

"that is wonderful news, Jaqueline," Ducky says with a big smile and takes her in for a hug.

"oh, did I hear you correctly." Ducky says and holds her out in his arms to look at her eyes. "did you say her fiancée?" Jack nods with a big smile. "yes, I did. She told me yesterday."

"congratulations Jack. I am so happy for you."

"I had coffee with her yesterday. We had a really great talk for hours. I got to know her in away… I had never imagined it would even be possible."

"I am so happy for you, Jack." Ducky says,

"what is it, Ducky?" Jack asks when she notices he has a look on his face that tells Jack something is bothering him.

"usually Jethro would be your choice of a confidante in this matter. May I ask why I have become your chosen one today?" Ducky asks.

"you were there for me when Faith handed me the papers. You helped me fill them out." Jack explains, but she can tell she isn't very convincing, and Ducky sees right through her white lie. She signs slowly and finally admits. "we had an argument yesterday."

Ducky nods in understanding. "I see. Usually, the two of you go a bit head to head over a case, but you always work it out by the end of the case. Since the case closed yesterday, I take that it wasn't over the case?" Ducky asks. Jack just looks confused at him.

"no. I told Gibbs about Faith's father. And what happened when I got pregnant."

"I sense it wasn't a happy event?"¨

Jack can tell that Ducky has already figured out that the pregnancy wasn't planned and that the father isn't a happy chapter in her life.

"I take Gibbs didn't take it well hearing it."

"no." Jack says and walks back and forth, looking down at the ground while collecting her thoughts. "we aren't on speaking terms right now, Duck." Jack admits and turns around to face Ducky again.

"I am sorry to hear that, Jack." Ducky is just looking at Jack. He never asks what happened between the two of them, but he can tell that whatever it is, it is really bothering Jack.

"I don't need him to fix me or look t me. I am some broken little teacup that needs fixing," Jack says, nearly yelling, and tears start falling down her face. She is angry and hurt at the same time.

"I don't think he can help it. He cares too much about you to see you hurt." Ducky says and takes her in for a comforting hug.

"I don't want his help. I can deal with this alone. I have dealt with it alone for nearly 30 years now." She just let herself be held by Ducky's comforting hug.

"maybe it is time for you to ask for help," Ducky says while holding his friend in his arms.

**Duckys office**

Ducky is walking on his treadmill when it knocks on his door, and Gibbs comes in before Ducky can say anything.

"Hey, Doc." Gibbs greets.

"Jethro. How are you?" Ducky greets cheerfully.

"I'm good," Gibbs says and sits down in front of Ducky's desk. Ducky steps of the treadmill and takes a seat next to Gibbs.

"whats up, Duck."

"How are you doing?" Ducky repeats. Gibbs looks confused at him.

"I'm good. Like I said."

"I heard the case yesterday got a little under your skin." Ducky starts.

"Nah… I just had a bad day."

"that wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the argument you had with Jaqueline?" Gibbs looks irritated at Ducky.

"Torres… he told me you two got into a heated argument on the stairs." Ducky explains.

"It was nothing, Ducky. Just the case.

"really?" Ducky asks in disbelieve.

"you talked to Sloane?" Gibbs asks. He now sounds a bit more concerned.

"she told me the two of you had an argument and that you aren't son speaking terms at the moment.

"I don't know what she expects me to do, Duck." Gibbs gets up from his hair and walks back and forth in the office. Ducky is just observing. He hasn't seen Gibbs this concerned and insecure of what to do for a long time.

"did she tell you what happened to her?"

"not in detail. But I can sense it has something to do with Jack's daughter and the daughter's father." Gibbs nods and sits back down.

"she won't tell me his name."

"Jethro…" Ducky says, a little irritated. Ducky is well aware of Gibbs's past behavior towards men with violent tendencies towards women. Especially women Gibbs cares deeply about.

"she doesn't need you to go and beat the guy with a baseball bat, Jethro."

"so, what does she expect me to do, Doc?"

"nothing." Gibbs just looks really confused at frustrated with that answer. "she is expecting you to be her friend. To be there for her and support her in whatever she needs. Not to fix her problems for her. You can't take away her anger or her pain. You can support her in what she needs."

"and what does she need?"

"she will tell you when she is ready. Just let her know what you are there for her, Jethro."

Gibbs gets up from the chair and walks around in the office.

"she is so damn bullheaded stubborn." Gibbs sounds so frustrated with the situation.

"like someone else, I know," Ducky says with a smile, and it makes Gibbs smile too.

**The diner**

Gibbs drives up in front of the diner. Jack's car is parked outside, and he sees her through the window. She is sitting at the last table in the corner near the window. From what he can see through the window, she looks tired. He walks into the diner and down to the table where Jack is seated. She is sitting with her back towards the door.

"Hi, Jack." He says and then sits down across the table from her. She has a plate with her favorite food, a stack of blueberry pancakes with a side of bacon and coffee. She hasn't touched it. She is just starring at it. She looks over at him when he doesn't speak.

"did you figure out who he is?" Jack asks. She sounds irritated by his presence.

"nope. Didn't try." He says and grabs a piece of her bacon. Usually, she protests of slaps his hand away but not today. She is just starring at him with the same furious look as she did yesterday on the stairs.

"really? I refuse to give you some information; usually, you run off and start investigating on your own."

"Not this time."

"so, you are going to stare at me until I tell you?"

"Nope." Elaine comes and pours a cup of coffee for Gibbs.

"so, then what?" Jack asks once Elaine has left again.

"I am just waiting for you to tell me what you need."

"I don't need anything, Gibbs. I can handle this on my own. I have for nearly 30 years."

"I know." He simply says. His concise answers are getting on her nerves. It is difficult for her to argue with him when he doesn't argue with her.

"so, then what, Gibbs?"

"aren't you going to eat this. your bacon is getting cold."

"not hungry." She pushes the plates away from her.

"rule 28," he says and takes a sip of his coffee.

"not in the mood for your rules, Gibbs." She says cold.

"rule 28. If you need help. Ask."

"I don't need help, Gibbs." She says and is about to stand up.

"Jack." He says and takes her hand. She looks at him angrily, but also seems like it is calming her down that he is holding her hand. She sits back down again. "handling everything on your own is not a sign of strength. It is a sign of stubbornness."

"speak from experience?" she asks, irritated, and grabs a slice of bacon from the plate. He smiles at her with a shy smile. She knows better than anyone that he speaks from experience.

"I know you don't need anyone to fix your problems for you. you can handle it, but…"

"but what?" she asks irritated.

"you and I both know what it means to have a team that you trust who always has your back."

"yeah, in combat Gibbs." She snaps at him. He takes a sip of his coffee while trying to figure out what to say to calm her down.

"what do you see when you look at me, Gibbs?" Jack asks and leans back and observes Gibbs. He takes a moment where he is just looking at her. She has her arms crossed over her chest, and she is looking irritated at him, but at the same time, he notices that small hint of softness in her eyes that only he notices. The sun is hitting her hair through the window in a way that makes it shine. Her sunglasses are sitting in her shirt and pull down her shirt, just a tiny bit.

"Jack, I don't see you as a broken, fragile teacup that needs fixing. I see one of the strongest, most resilient, and smartest women I have known. I see an Army lieutenant now NCIS special agent who is highly trained and who thinks she can handle any given situation she is trained for, which she can. Just not on her own. She is trained to work with a team that always has her back. she has just forgotten for a short moment what it means to trust someone."

That was not at all what Jack was expecting to hear. Gibbs's hands are lying on the table. She reaches over and takes his hand.

"thank you," she whispers, almost not audible.

"you don't need to deal with this alone, Jack." He says, looking into her soft brown eyes.

"I know."

Elaine comes back to the table with a plate with Gibbs's usual order. She is just looking at them with a knowing smile.

"am I interrupting?" she asks with a knowing smile on her face.

"no," Jack says with a smile and lets go of Gibbs's hand. She looks out the window to try and avoid Elaine's knowing smile.

"scoot over." She tells Gibbs when Elaine has placed the plate in front of Gibbs and left their table again. Jack moves to sit next to Gibbs.

"I think she already knows." He whispers and places a kiss on her hair. She just smiles shyly at him and hugs his arm, so she is closer to him.

"you are not getting any of my sandwiches." He says with a smile when she is about to grab one of the sandwiches of his plate.

"you ate my bacon." She complines.

"It was cold." He complains.

"you still ate it."

They start laughing, and she hugs his arm while she is resting her head in his shoulder. Soon after, Elaine comes over with a plate with bacon.

"We didn't order more bacon," Jack says, confused.

"It sounded like you needed some more," Elaine says with a smile before she walks away.

Jack starts eating her almost cold pancakes while Gibbs eats his sandwich.

"so, I figured out why Faith needed the extended medical forms," Jack says and takes a sip of her coffee. Gibbs looks at her, interested.

"she is going through fertility treatment. That was why she needed the information."

"that is big news." Gibbs says, surprised,

"yeah. I mean, she probably won't have me having anything to do with the baby, but I am really happy for her. She is also engaged."

"that is amazing news, Jack."

"hmm… I also told Faith the truth about…" Jack says with a knowing look, and Gibbs nods knowingly. He knows she is referring to the rape committed by Faith's father, but she won't say it out loud in the diner.

"We had a great talk yesterday. I got to know so much more about Faith." Jack sounds so happy when she talks about her daughter and the talk they had yesterday in the bakery.

Maybe Gibbs can't fix Jack's problems or make the pain she suffered because of that man, go away, but he can do the next best thing. Which is being there for his friend.

**Note: I have difficulties writing Ducky because of his Scottish accent so I always try and see if I can hear Ducky pronounce the lines when I write them to get them as accurate as possible. Please let me know if you think there is something that is completely off about my Ducky-writing.**


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